Sex, Lies and Lydia
by K.C.Dragonfly
Summary: Catherine finds out Sara's little secret. How will she react and is there more to Sara's girlfriend than meets the eye? Sara/OC, Eventual Cara. rated M for later chapters.
1. Discoveries

**Hi y'all! New story. This is based on a storyline from Hollyoaks and some characters and locations (Scarlett Bar) are borrowed from Neighbours. It is a Cath/Sara fic but will take some time to get there. Anyways, hope you enjoy and as always let me know what you think. New chapters will be up asap. **

**Disclaimer: I don not own CSI, Hollyoaks, Neighours or any of their characters/storylines. I am merely borrowing them.**

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She couldn't believe it. She was in a nice bar, away from the glitz and glamour of the strip, being wined and dined by a handsome guy a few years younger than herself, and she was _bored_. Catherine hadn't expected this to be a long-term thing but this guy was young, cute and infatuated with her so he was good for a few dates at least. However, he also lived in his parent's basement and collected comic books. Once that revelation came up she had stopped listening.

She was now surveying the bar: the walls were a deep red (which explained the name Scarlett bar) and there were tables dotted around the room and couches arranged in corners and along the walls.

There was a stage on one side where a young band was playing Martha Reeves and the Vandella's 'Nowhere to Run'. Next to the stage was a pool table and darts board where a group of people in their twenties or thirties were hanging out. The bar itself was in the centre of the room where a young boy of about 21 was serving and a blonde biker chick, who Catherine had assumed to be the owner, was chatting to customers over the counter.

It had an almost 70s feel to it, and the atmosphere was relaxed, friendly. Definitely not your typical Las Vegas bar, that's for sure.

As she was absentmindedly glancing around something caught her attention.

"Lucas! Put me down!" Recognising the voice immediately she turned to the pool tables where a dark-haired man in his early 30s had a young brunette thrown over his shoulder like a fireman's lift. She was kicking her jean-clad legs and laughing as the man, presumably Lucas, tried to tickle her without dropping her. The biker chick and another two guys were laughing and egging Lucas on. However it was the struggling brunette who had caught Catherine's attention because unless her eyes were deceiving her it was Sara Sidle in the flesh!

"Cath?" she spun her head around to look at Jason who was staring at her with confused eyes.

"Huh?" she eloquently asked.

"Are you alright?" He had become concerned at how quiet she was.

"Yeah, sorry what were you saying?" He dived back into his spiel about fast cars and Catherine couldn't help her eyes drifting back to the group by the pool table. Sara now had her feet back on the ground and was currently trying to wrestle her way out of Lucas' grip around her middle. Cath couldn't help but smile at her young co-worker fooling around, she could not remember ever seeing her this relaxed or playful in the three years they had known each other. And she kinda wished she had a video camera because the guys would never believe this.

"So, you wanna go somewhere else? I know a great club on the strip, its called…"

"Sorry Jason, I really need to get home. Rain check?" She interrupted him. He nodded and offered to walk her to the car but she made the excuse of going to the bathroom and told him to go ahead. Once he was outside she stood up and headed over to where her colleague was thrashing one of the other guys at pool. As she got closer she recognised the other guy as Jarrod Rebecchi, a local defense lawyer.

"No, no, no! Oh c'mon that's not cool!" Rebecchi moaned as Sara cleared the table in one visit and started doing a little victory dance that Cath found so cute. She was about to go over and make her presence known when a woman with very short bottle blonde hair, and a nose stud, sauntered over and wrapped her arms around Sara's waist from behind, startling the young brunette.

"C'mon Toadie, you should know by now no one can beat my girl. She's invincible." Catherine watched in awe as Sara turned and placed a kiss on the woman's lips. Now she knew her eyes were deceiving her. Sara Sidle was kissing a woman! Well, Catherine thought, that was something interesting. Now she really wished she had a video camera! This would make the guys' night.

She was tempted to stick around for a while and see what else she might find out about the enigmatic young CSI but after a while her conscience took over and she decided to slip out before Sara noticed her. After all, in her shoes she would not want her colleagues spying on her either.

Just before leaving she turned to see Sara wrap her arms around the blonde and kiss her deeply as her friends wolf whistled in the background.

"Go Sidle!" Rebecchi whistled, earning himself a smack upside the head from the biker chick, just as the song changed to 'High school never ends.'

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**Please review :)**


	2. Coming out

**Thank you for the reviews!** **New chapter x**

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That night Catherine was looking forward to seeing Sara at work, so much so that she went in early. She knew Sara was usually early, although not so much in recent months now that she thought about it.

She sat in the locker room, taking her time getting ready and jumped when the very girl sauntered in with a beautiful smile on her face and a spring in her step.

"Hi Catherine." She greeted cheerfully.

"Hey. So, you have a good day?" Catherine asked nonchalantly. Sara said yes, a grin breaking out across her face and Cath was sure she noted a blush creeping onto her cheeks too.

Now that she took the time to actually study her she could tell there was something different that she hadn't noticed before. Sara looked healthier. And she had been coming in actually at the start of shift and leaving at the end as opposed to practically living in the lab as she come accustomed to doing. She was eating more regularly and drinking less coffee. More obviously, she looked happy.

She decided to tease her a bit. "Yeah, what'd you get up to?" Sara shrugged.

"Nothing much I guess. Just hung out with some friends."

"Really? You kiss all you're friends like that do ya?" Catherine asked flippantly. The blonde tried to keep a straight face, with great difficulty, as Sara spun around with such speed she had to grab her locker door to steady herself. She looked at Cath with wide eyes, who just raised an eyebrow and left with a small smile.

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Cath went into her office, leaving the door open, and sat at her desk staring at her watch. She counted precisely14 seconds until Sara appeared in the doorway.

"Who told you?" the brunette asked nervously.

"Told me what?" She asked in her most neutral tone. However when she saw the uneasy expression on Sara's face she decided to stop playing. "No one told me. I saw you at the Scarlett Bar today. I was on a date. And FYI yours seemed to be a lot more enjoyable than mine." She joked, hoping it would relax Sara. It didn't. Instead the brunette moved further into the office.

"You haven't…told anyone, have you?" Cath shook her head and Sara finally seemed to loosen up a little. Curious, and slightly concerned for her friend now, Catherine motioned for her to sit down opposite and moved to sit on the desk in front of her.

"Sara?" She pushed gently.

"It's just, in this job…people…" She paused and re-gathered her thoughts. "This isn't San Francisco. I don't know how people will accept it and I'd rather not deal with the inevitable jokes." She seemed shy all of a sudden and Catherine realised that this was the first Sara had let her guard down around the blonde. She had an opening here to get inside the head of the girl she had wanted to know for so long.

"Honey, you know that we would never…"

"I know." Sara cut her off. "Its just not something I really know how to talk about. When I've told people in the past…well lets just say its hard enough being a geek let alone being gay too." Catherine reached out and rubbed her arm caringly, deep in thought for a moment at Sara's little confession.

"Gay? So what was Hank?" she knew it was probably a bad idea but had to ask anyway. Unexpectedly, Sara laughed.

"Momentary lapse I guess."

"Momentary my ass, how long were you two together?" Cath raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, I guess I just…he was sweet and he cared about me. It was kinda nice to feel normal and loved for a while. I've dated guys before, it's just different."

"But if you didn't feel that way about him it must have been hard for you." Sara shrugged again. "Hon, don't ever feel like you have to hide your feelings. There is nothing wrong with who you are." Sara shuffled, disliking being so revealed, and decided to change the subject.

"You won't tell anyone will you? I really don't think I'm ready for everyone to find out."

"Your secret's safe with me." The older woman scrutinised Sara for a moment. "You really like her don't you." She asked gently. Sara nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"Lydia. We met at Scarlett bar a few weeks ago."

"Well, congratulations then. Really Sara, you deserve to be happy." The young brunette smiled and thanked her, getting up to leave. She was almost out of the door when Catherine's voice held her back. "Hey, I meant what I said, don't ever pretend to be someone you're not. Who you are is fine with me." Sara smiled. "Even if you are the most infuriatingly mysterious workaholic I have ever met." She added once the brunette had sashayed down the hall.

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**:) Pretty Please...**


	3. Tears and Buttons

**I probably should have warned y'all that this story is going to be rough for Sara but i promise a happy ending for her, just have faith. Anyways and onwards... **

**x x x x**

A couple of weeks later and Catherine had kept her promise; the guys knew nothing of Sara's relationship. Sara was feeling more confident about herself now that Catherine had found out and effectively given her blessing. Cath had been supportive of her relationship and over the last couple of weeks they had formed more of a friendship. They talked, properly, without breaking out into arguments. Sara was happy – her life was going well for the first time in her life.

"Hey Lyds, I brought coffee. Closed my case so thought I'd duck out early." Sara called out, letting herself into her apartment and throwing her motorbike helmet and jacket onto the couch. Getting no answer she tried again, taking the coffee cups out of their box. "Lyds?" she asked nudging the bedroom door open with her foot.

"Sara!" The dark, hot liquid sprayed across the floor.

X x x

"Man, I swear to God as soon as I find Grissom that man's ass is mine!" Catherine announced through gritted teeth as she flounced into the locker room and whipped her shirt off. "I have earned the right to choose my cases. And I would choose a double homicide over dumpster diving any day!" She rummaged through her locker until she found a clean shirt and pulled it on over her bare shoulders. "I'd leave him a memo but he doesn't read the damn things! You'd think he was illiterate!" Turning around she glanced at the back of Sara sat on the bench, the only other occupant in the room, who had yet to acknowledge her presence. "Hey, Earth to Sara." She said in a sing-song voice. Nothing. "Sara, you ok?" The brunette shrugged. Neglecting to button up her shirt, Catherine walked around the bench to look at her. "Hey, what's wrong Hon?" The young CSI had silent tears running down her face. "Sara, honey what's happened?" Catherine was seriously starting to get worried now.

"Nothing, forget it. I'm fine." Sara stood up to leave but Cath placed her hands firmly on Sara's shoulders and sat her back down.

"No, no, no. You're not going anywhere. Tell me what's wrong." Cath sat next to her and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. Sara sniffled and answered quietly.

"Lydia." That's all she had to say for Catherine to understand.

"Oh. What did she do?"

"She cheated on me. In my bed." Catherine wrapped an arm around Sara's back and tugged her closer. Sara, in return, placed her head on Cath's shoulder and let herself be comforted for just a minute, something she would never have done before. "Do have a sign on my head or something? Sad and desperate, welcomes attention from cheaters – gender indiscriminate." Catherine chuckled softly.

"Oh Sara sweetheart, it's not your fault. You deserve much better than her." Sara looked down, not willing to answer that with a remark. Cath hated seeing Sara so down and decided to cheer her up. "Hey, why don't we go for a drink? Just us." She tipped Sara's chin up to look at her and saw true pain in her dark eyes. "You really liked her huh?" Sara nodded miserably. "All the more reason to go for a drink then." Sara smiled gratefully but shook her head, silently declining. However, Catherine Willows was not a woman to give up easily. She crouched stood up in front of the brunette and grabbed her hands. "Come on, I won't take no for an answer. I only have three rules: no moping, no work stuff and no guy-talk…or girl-talk. We are going to go out, have fun and make you forget all about your useless cheating ex. Deal? Good." She said, without giving Sara a chance to turn her offer down again.

"Thank you Catherine."

"You're welcome, now just let me go tell Grissom I'm ducking out early and we'll head off." She bent down and placed a feather light kiss on Sara's forehead and headed to the door. She got as far as the threshold when Sara called her back.

"Cat. Buttons." Catherine looked at her puzzled then down at her blouse, which was still hanging open and revealing her lacy black bra.

**x x x x **

**Cyberbrownies for all who review!**


	4. Listen to your heart

**New, longer chapter :) Parts of this is borrowed from Hollyoaks Later, which i do not own (if i did Sarah would still be alive and Lydia would have crash landed in a field of corn!) Anyways e****njoy x**

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"So Miss Sidle, other than being a Californian lesbian workaholic, what don't I know about you?" Catherine asked bluntly, placing their drinks down on the table and settling across from her colleague. Sara's eyes widened and she laughed nervously.

"Come again?" she asked incredulously, taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, we've known each other three and a half years now and yet I barely know you at all. I just figured now would be a good time to start." She smiled sweetly. Sara shuffled in her seat.

"I think I'll need a few more drinks before I'm ready to go down that road." Catherine looked at her curiously.

"Ok, how about I ask and you answer? One way or another I'm gonna find out what goes through that head of yours Sidle." She joked.

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A couple of hours and a few drinks (perhaps a few too many!) later they had migrated from a table to a couch and Sara was laid with her head on Catherine's lap. "You should wear that green shirt more often, it brings out your eyes. I like that green shirt. It brings out your eyes." Sara babbled contentedly. They had begun by trading sordid stories of college hi-jinks, to past loves, to favourite movies and had moved on to fashion. Catherine smiled down at Sara fondly. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, 'Listen to your heart' sung by Roxette, came on the sound system.

"Ooh, I love this song. Come dance with me." Catherine shuffled off the couch excitedly, leaving Sara's head to fall onto the cushions.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, but it fell on deaf ears. Cath grabbed Sara's sleeve and tugged her onto her feet.

"Come on Sara, one dance." She pleaded.

"No, I cannot dance to save my life." The young brunette refused adamantly.

"Bull." Catherine said, raising an eyebrow. "It takes a dancer to know one and you, my girl, are a dancer." She took a step closer to Sara and placed her hands on Sara's waist, slowly sliding them down. "It's all in the hips." Sara found herself paralysed by the blonde's motions and by the time she had regained control of her motor functions Catherine had dragged her to the centre of the dance floor.

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"I've had way too much to drink, my mother's going to kill me when I get home!" Catherine slurred, giggling, as she stumbled off the path and caught Sara's arm to balance herself. Sara, for her part, was trying to navigate their way through the park they had found themselves in. It was still early and since it was winter the sun had not quite found its way out of the clouds yet so it was too dark to see where they were walking.

"Why is everything spinning when I can't see anything?!" Sara howled pitifully, stumbling over a tree branch. There was a shriek and when she turned around she found Catherine laid on her back in a muddy brook, giggling insanely. "Back on your feet Cat," Sara tried to pull her colleague up but the blonde was laughing too much and Sara screamed as she found herself pulled down too, until they were both rolling around laughing hysterically.

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Eventually the girls made it to Sara's apartment and stumbled their way trough the door. Catherine, despite having never been there before, found her way straight into the bedroom and fell onto the bed. "Sleep." she mumbled, curling up. However Sara, slightly more sober (slightly!) was aware of the cold muddy water that had absorbed into Catherine's thin clothes.

"Nope, we've gotta get your wet clothes off." She instructed, sounding as responsible as she could while drunk. "Arms up." She helped Catherine remove her drenched and muddy shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it aside. Catherine fell sideways and landed with her head resting against Sara's shoulder.

"You're a good friend Sara. A good friend." She murmured. Sara leant down and placed a soft kiss on Catherine's lips. The blonde reciprocated for a moment before pulling away. Sara nuzzled her neck and tried to kiss her again, tenderly stroking the revealed skin, but Catherine gently pushed her away, before collapsing on the bed in a drunken stupor. Sara fell back too and lay next to Catherine, draping an arm across the blonde's stomach.

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Catherine awoke feeling like she'd been run over by an elephant. Her head hurt, her hip hurt and for some unknown reason that she was sure she did not want to know she had a leaf in her hair. Sitting up very slowly, it quickly became apparent to her that this was not where she lived. Why was she on Sara's bed? And where the hell was her shirt?! Slowly the events of the morning came back to her and she groaned. Drink, dancing, more drink. A walk in the park. And Sara had made a move on her. The brunette in question was still asleep, peacefully curled up next to her. At the back of her mind Catherine knew that it was not a big deal and that Sara was on the rebound and had had too much to drink. However she did not think well with a hangover and at this moment in time the anger was taking place of rationality and sympathy. Catherine collected her shirt and left, without awaking her colleague.

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"What happened today?" The voice made Sara jump and she looked up from her locker to find Catherine leaning against the doorframe.

"Nothing." She answered coolly. Cath scoffed.

"Really? So I suppose me waking up half naked had nothing whatsoever to do with you?" Sara paled and looked away. "You tried it on with me." No answer. "Was that your plan all along? Get me drunk so you could make your move?" Sara's head shot up.

"No! Anyway, going out for a drink was your idea." Catherine did not have a response to that. Sara took a deep breath and continued. "I was drunk, I'm sorry. What else do you want me to say?"

"Am I interrupting something?" Both women turned as Nick Stokes appeared behind them with a raised eyebrow. Sara closed her locker and walked out, not saying another word. Catherine just sighed and stalked off, leaving behind a bemused Texan.

"I am sorry." Catherine looked up from her work. Sara was stood anxiously in her office doorway. Cath nearly said something she would regret but decided against it and sighed again, putting her pen down. Seeing Sara had made her angry and she had lashed out without thinking, but having finally listened to the little voice in her head she realised that they were both to blame.

"Why did you do it Sar?" she asked softly. Sara took a deep breath and sat down opposite her desk.

"Honestly, I don't know. Rebound I guess." She locked eyes with Catherine, her deep brown eyes expressing the truth in her words. "I'm sorry." Catherine smiled sympathetically at her.

"It's ok. I've been there, and i guess i overreacted a little. Just next time, give me a heads up before you lay one on me yeah?" She flashed Sara a grin and Sara laughed.

"Deal."

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**Reviews make me update sooner :)**


	5. Forgiveness and Jealousy

It was a few days later when Catherine spotted a familiar woman hovering around the lab reception. It took her a moment to place her but suddenly it hit. Lydia. Catherine strode over and dumped her folders on the reception desk, startling the life out of Judy, before sauntering over to Lydia. "Looking for Sara I presume?" The blonde jumped and turned around with wide eyes. Catherine had developed a habit of scaring people today.

"Yeah, actually." She said surprised. "You know where she is?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I do." She said, making it clear by the tone of her voice that she had no intention of telling Lydia where Sara was. Her blue eyes turned dark. "You hurt her." Catherine stated. Lydia actually looked visibly upset, but it did not invoke any sympathy in Catherine.

"Look, I just want to tell her I'm sorry. Is she here?" before Cath could answer a voice behind her startled them both.

"Lyds?" both turned to find Sara stood looking like a fish out of water, with an arm full of folders. Catherine walked over to her, took the folders out of her hands and whispered something in her ear, then stalked off down the corridor, but not before shooting Lydia a look that clearly said _'you hurt her again and no-one will find your body.'_

Once Catherine had gone Sara took Lydia by the arm and led her outside. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologise. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. It was a really stupid mistake and I'd never do anything like that again." Sara rolled her eyes and made to go back inside but Lydia stopped her. "Please Sara, I love you so much I want you back. I know I messed up but I would never hurt you again, please if you let me I will prove that I'm not lying. I need you Sar." She had hold of Sara, her grey eyes pleading with her for one more chance.

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"You took her back." Catherine stated as soon as Sara appeared in her office. Sara didn't need to say anything; the look on her face was enough to confirm. "Sara, if she hurt you once she'll hurt you again."

"Thank you Catherine but I can take care of my own love life."

"Sar she is using you. Don't let her walk all over you."

"Please, just let me handle this. She won't hurt me again. She promised me." Catherine laughed dryly.

"And you believe her?" She asked incredulously.

"I trust her." Sara stated simply. Ending the conversation, she took her folders back and went to leave.

"Sara," Catherine called, "I meant what I said to back there, if ever you need anything, I'm here for you."

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When Sara got home that night Lydia was already in her apartment waiting for her. The smell of coffee and food hit her as soon as she walked through the door and Lydia stood up from her spot on the couch and moved across the room to wrap Sara in a hug.

"Hey, what's all this?" Sara asked, returning the embrace.

"I made you breakfast, figured you'd be hungry after work." Sara smiled.

"You didn't have to do that." She said, sitting down at the breakfast bar and helping herself to a bread roll.

"It's not much, you know I can't cook." Lydia joked, putting a plate of pasta in front of herself and one in front of Sara.

"No, it's perfect." They tucked in and ate, making arbitrary small talk. When they were done Sara washed up and Lydia dried. Just as Sara handed her a plate Lydia sighed.

"She doesn't like me does she?" Sara gave had a puzzled look.

"Who?"

"Your friend. At the lab." She put the plate in a cupboard and started drying a cup.

"Catherine? She doesn't know you."

"She thinks I'm going to hurt you." Sara chuckled.

"Cath's just a little overprotective. She's a mother – it's in her nature. She'll learn to love you." Sara grinned and placed a chaste kiss on Lydia's lips.

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"Hey madam, what have you done with my…?" Sara strode back into her bedroom half dressed and stopped mid-sentence when she saw Lydia sprawled out on the bed holding Sara's bra in the air like a prize. "What are you doing with that?" Sara laughed, placing her hands on her hips. Lydia grinned lazily.

"Well, you seem _so_ insistent to go to work and I didn't think you'd go like that," she gestured to Sara's chest, "so what do you know, a plan formulated in my head." Sara laughed again.

"You're unbelievable. Give me that!" She launched at her girlfriend, who rolled away easily and continued to swing the underwear around. "You really think I wouldn't go commando at work?" Sara challenged. Lydia sat up, holding the covers against her to cover herself up.

"By all means do." Lydia wiggled her eyebrows seductively, eyeing her up.

"So, you'd be ok with me going to work with no underwear on. Around Nick and Warrick and Catherine. And Greg!" That gave Lydia pause for thought.

"On second thoughts…" she threw the garment back at Sara with a smirk "I think I prefer you covered." Sara caught it with one hand and returned to the bathroom to finish getting dressed. "That blonde bitch can keep her damn eyes to herself." Lydia muttered under her breath.

It did not matter how much Sara convinced her that Catherine was just looking out for her, Lydia was convinced that the older woman's intentions were not good. Something about Catherine just made Lydia turn green; the way Sara spoke about her, the way she would laugh at something that had happened at the lab, something Catherine was a part of and Lydia was not. It was like they had a secret connection and that bugged Lydia more than she cared to admit. Sara had told her about their almost night together and sworn that it was her fault, Catherine had done nothing wrong. And that's what made Lydia angry; bad enough that she had lead her girlfriend on, but she was allowing Sara to take all the blame! And then telling Sara that Lydia wanted to hurt her. It was quite clear in Lydia's head what Catherine wanted – she was trying to turn Sara against her! 'Well,' Lydia thought, 'I won't let that happen.'

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**Ooh, what will Lydia do? Review and you may find out :)**


	6. A private conversation not so private

**This chapter had no planning and was written right off the bat so if it sucks than i apologise in advance. x**

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"Hey, you'll never guess what Cath told me today." Sara announced, dropping her keys into the bowl by the door as her and Lydia returned from breakfast. Lydia twitched at the mention of the woman's name but Sara didn't notice as she continued.

"That bald moose who signs my pay checks has decided that we all need a reminder in how to work as a team so we're being sent to Nebraska for a weekend to partake in 'teambuilding activities'." Sara huffed, dropping on her couch. Lydia stopped what she was doing as her mind processed this.

"All of you have to go?"

"Yeah, apparently working together on a daily basis is not enough to qualify as teamwork anymore, we need a certificate to prove that we can work together without killing each other." She frowned. "On the plus side, I've never been to Nebraska before." She flashed Lydia a grin. "And the lab is paying for everything, I presume that includes the mini-bar." Lydia had stopped listening.

"So, the lab's going to pay for you all to sleep in a hotel, that's gonna be expensive; five rooms plus food and drinks."

"Well, we'll be sharing rooms so that'll cut down the expense and it's only for two nights." She stood up and shrugged. "Who knows, could even be fun." She joked.

As soon as Sara disappeared into her bedroom Lydia's smile faded. Her girlfriend was going to be spending two nights in a hotel room with Catherine Willows. Hell no!

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"I'm sorry did I forget to mention that there's only one bed per room?" Ecklie sneered. The graveyard shift glared at him but he didn't flinch. "Think of it as extra teambuilding."

"So I guess you and Grissom are sharing a bed too?" Warrick asked. Ecklie grinned: obviously not then.

"I'm not part of your team. Now, I suggest that you all get a good nights sleep and we'll meet in the front yard at 9 o clock sharp." The team watched the balding weasel of a man slink off to his, followed by their apologetic looking supervisor Gil Grissom. Catherine shook her head disbelievingly and turned towards her room, lightly touching Sara's arm as she went. "C'mon girl let's go."

The room was quite small but it was nice. Orange light streamed through the window across the double bed and to the door where both women stood surveying their home for the next couple of nights.

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Having gotten acquainted with the room and once Catherine had decided which of the bathroom products she was going to snaffle they sat on the bed, exhausted from their journey. They had set off at 8am that morning and it was now nearly half seven at night. Sara lay back on the bed and stretched her arm across her eyes. Catherine shuffled around and watched her for a moment before reaching out and patting the brunette's stomach, causing the girl to emit a disgruntled mumble and curl up. Catherine laughed.

"Hey, sleepy head. You've barely said a word all day. Everything ok?"

"Yeah." Sara sighed.

"You don't all that convinced." Catherine commented. Sara didn't respond for a moment so Catherine shuffled further up the bed and sat next to her prone friend. Sara sensed eyes on her and moved her arm, finding herself staring into crystal blue eyes. "Talk to me Sar." Cath said softly. The younger CSI sat up and they leant back against the headrest together.

"It's just…I kind of feel like I don't know my own mind at the moment. I'm kinda…lost." She knew that this didn't make any sense but Catherine gave her a moment to re-gather her thoughts.

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Lydia climbed out of the taxi and looked up at the hotel. It was nicer than she expected considering the lab were paying. She picked up her bag, paid the driver and started up the steps to the entrance.

Inside the lobby was a flight of stairs next to the door to the bar. On the far wall there were elevators and on the left-hand-side wall was a reception desk where a mousy-haired woman in her late twenties was shuffling papers. "Hi," Lydia said nervously, getting her attention.

"Hi there, how can I help you?" the woman asked cheerfully. Too cheerfully.

"I'm looking for someone. Can you tell me what room Sara Sidle is staying in; she's with the crime lab."

"I'm sorry Miss, we don't give out room numbers."

"No I understand, but she's my girlfriend, I wanted to surprise her." Lydia explained. The woman's expression changed and her smile became forced.

"Well I'm sorry but we still don't give out room numbers." Just then the phone rang and the woman went to answer it, turning her back to Lydia for a moment. The blonde woman saw her chance to scope out the desk. The book with guest's names and rooms was on the computer keyboard. When the overly cheerful woman put the phone down and turned back around she was surprised to see Lydia still there.

"Do you have a guidebook for the area?" Lydia asked, as politely as possible. When the women bent down to get one from under the desk Lydia 'accidentally' knocked the cup of coffee that was standing on the desk over, sending cold coffee across the desk in the general vicinity of the computer. The peppy woman jumped and hurriedly started cleaning it up, haphazardly throwing the book out of the way, and landing it squarely in front of Lydia. Room 212. Throwing an apology over her shoulder, she told the woman not to worry, she'd get one elsewhere, and disappeared upstairs while Miss Peppy mopped her computer mouse pad.

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Lydia arrived outside her girlfriend's room, both nervous and excited, and raised her hand to knock when she heard voices emanating from the room. She recognised Sara's sweet voice instantly. Stepping closer, she could make out what was said.

"Is it Lydia?" Catherine asked after Sara hadn't spoke for a couple of minutes.

"Yeah I guess. She's a bit intense…clingy. I'm not sure I can handle it. I feel like she's smothering me and trust me that's never good." Catherine gave her an odd look. "I tend to do some stupid things when I feel threatened or suffocated."

"What kind of stupid things?" Catherine asked cautiously, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Self-destructive." Sara answer finally, almost reluctantly. Catherine wanted to probe deeper but could tell that Sara was uncomfortable talking about this.

"Honey, if that's the case than maybe you should end it, or at least cool things off for a while." Sara nodded thoughtfully. "And you know that if ever you need me, any time of day, you can call me, right? I'm always here for you." Sara smiled and wrapped Catherine in a warm hug.

"Thank you."

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Lydia shook with anger. With their words reverberating in her head she stalked off down the empty corridor and out into the night.

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**Let me know what you think. x**


	7. Decisions

A loud trilling awoke the girls the next morning. Both groaned and rolled inwards, the result of which was Sara curled into a ball in the middle of the bed and Catherine coiled around her with her head buried under the pillow. Eventually Catherine sat up and picked up the offending item. "What?" she whined into the phone.

"This is your wakeup call, you are to meet your team on the front forecourt in two hours." A cheerful voice chirped back at her. Growling, she slammed the phone back down and sat up fully, rubbing her face pitifully. Sara still had not moved and was just a bump under the covers. Catherine poked her, eliciting a grumble. She prodded her again and this time felt a sharp kick to her leg.

"Hey!" She jumped. She climbed out of bed and in one swift movement whipped the covers off, revealing Sara Sidle curled up like a cat in the centre of the bed. As a devious smirk crossed her lips Catherine crawled up the mattress and leant over the brunette to whisper in Sara's ear, "Wakey wakey sunshine." When Sara didn't respond Cath grabbed her sides, making the young CSI jump and squeal. Sara unfurled herself slowly, without opening her eyes.

"Catherine, I love you to pieces but if you do that again I will slap you." the blonde laughed and slapped Sara lightly on her thigh.

"I dare you. C'mon Sidle, shift your butt; teambuilding awaits us."

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After an exhausting two days of teambuilding the graveyard shift fell out of a cab and into a diner. They discussed what they had learnt: Ecklie was an ass, people in Nebraska are too cheerful and Catherine is scared of spiders.

"I was not!"

"You so were!"

"I was not! I slipped." Catherine insisted, folding her arms across her chest.

"You were cowering in the corner of the bath. All because of a teeny tiny little spider." Sara teased.

"It was not tiny, it was huge."

"It was a baby spider Catherine and you threw a bar of soap at it." Catherine stuck her tongue out at Sara playfully and Sara pulled a face back in return. The boys laughed at the girl's antics. Nick had practically fallen over laughing when he and Warrick had burst into their room after hearing shouting, only to be met with a dripping wet Catherine covered only by a towel and a hysterically giggling Sara. As it transpired the spider had cornered Catherine in the shower and when she'd screamed Sara had burst in and rescued the naked hostage from the arachnid.

"Well either way, it's a good thing that Sara was there to rescue you." Nick laughed. Catherine grinned at her saviour.

"Yes, my hero." She swooned dramatically into Sara's arms and the team fell about laughing.

Lydia stood outside the diner watching through the window as her girlfriend and the rest of the Las Vegas night shift CSIs messed about happily.

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Sara's phone beeped again for what felt like the millionth time that night. She looked at the little screen and sighed. Lydia again. For the past couple of weeks everytime she was away from her girlfriend for more than a couple of hours she got text messages from her, and if she didn't answer she got phone calls. Disconnecting the call, she slipped the phone back into her pocket and sat on the bench.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Catherine asked, entering the locker room.

"Sure," Sara answered, as the lbonde sat next to her.

"It's just…I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You know, after everything you were saying in the hotel the other day."

"Yeah, I'm ok. I…I'm talking to someone."

"You mean like a counsellor?" Catherine frowned.

"Sort of, he's a friend of mine. He works as a high school counsellor. He's helping me to deal with some things that I probably should have dealt with a long time ago." Sara smiled, telling Catherine in her own way that she was going to be ok. Cath scrutinised her for a second.

"Ok, well I don't really understand but if it's helping then that's all that matters. And you know that if ever you need anyone else to talk to, someone unqualified and un-objective, you know where I am. Anytime Sara, I mean that." Sara nodded and smiled again, a proper Sidle smile that lit up her face.

"Thanks. I'll remember that." Catherine patted her knee lightly. She stood up to leave but stopped in the doorway.

"Hey, what about Lydia?" Sara's face fell a little and she nodded resolutely.

"I'm dealing with that."

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Lydia paced around Sara's small apartment. She was going to leave her. She was going to leave her for Catherine. She knew it. This was not supposed to happen, why did these things always happen? She swept the magazines and books off Sara's coffee table in a rage, kicked the table over and stood there – angry, upset and frustrated – with Sara's belongings scattered around her feet.

Taking a deep breath she entered Sara's bedroom. The room, deep crimson red, was warm and inviting and …Sara. It personified everything that she loved about Sara. Her passion, her mysteriousness, her darkness. Her love. She cautiously stepped up to the bed, letting her fingers trail across the silk covers. Sara's shirt lay discarded on the floor and she picked it up and pressed it to her face, inhaling the scent she had grown to live off. Silent tears trickled down her face and she realised that she couldn't live without her Sara.

She knew what she had to do.

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**Have got some time off work now so updates should come quite fast. Let me know what you think so far x**


	8. Split second choice

**Ok, i know this chapter is really short but had to leave it there for now. Will be a new update tomorrow. Enjoy x**

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The reflection stared back at her, but she did not see herself, she saw a ghost: pale, haunting. Dead. Lydia looked around the small bathroom, her grey eyes finally settling back on the mirror. She raised a shaky hand to her wrist, pressed the cold, sharp blade into her skin. Her breath was unsteady, her body rigid. As she trembled, the blade hovering over her wrist, she replayed the voices over and over in her head.

"_Is it Lydia?"_

"_Yeah I guess. She's a bit intense…clingy. I'm not sure I can handle it. I feel like she's smothering me. I tend to do some stupid things when I feel threatened or suffocated."_

"_What kind of stupid things?"_

"_Self-destructive." Sara answered finally, almost reluctantly._

"_Honey, if that's the case than maybe you should end it, or at least cool things off for a while." Sara nodded thoughtfully. "And you know that if ever you need me, any time of day, you can call me, right? I'm always here for you."_

Silent angry tears trekked down her face as the words echoed in her head. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the blade against her skin, preparing herself to feel the inevitable pain.

The front door opening and shutting caught her attention before she could make the cut.

"Lyds? You here?" Sara's voice floated through the door and something about it made her snap.

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Sara entered her apartment and tossed her bag down. She wandered into the kitchen and assumed that her girlfriend was sleeping. The brunette clicked on the coffee pot and rested her hands against the countertop. That was the last thing she remembered.

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Lydia poked her head around the bathroom door and saw her Sara leaning against the counter waiting for her coffee to be ready. Creeping up behind her very quietly, the blonde woman picked up a mug and swung it, smashing it on the side of Sara's head. The young CSI dropped to the floor, temporarily knocked out. Lydia dropped the fractured remains of the mug and carefully dragged Sara into the bathroom.

Staring at Sara, her Sara, she played with the razor blade in her hands. The voices began playing in her head again, like a mantra, taunting her until she couldn't take it any more. She leapt forward and with two swift motions slit Sara's wrists. As the blood began to pour out of the wounds the extent of her actions hit home and Lydia dropped the razor on the floor, watching as it landed in the pool of blood. She staggered backwards until she hit the wall and stared at the bleeding woman with horror struck eyes.

She knew that she should call the police, an ambulance, anyone, but she was paralysed. Sara was dying.

What had she done?

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**Bet y'all didn't see that coming? x**


	9. Hurt

**Ok, i know things are not looking too good for Cath and Sara right now but have faith because i do have a plan for them :) Enjoy x**

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"What have we got?" Nancy asked as a stretcher was rolled into the emergency department.

"Sara Sidle. 30-year-old female, slit her wrists, lost a lot of blood." The name sounded familiar but she ignored it when the paramedics began reading off her vitals as the young woman was wheeled into the emergency room and hooked up to machines. A blonde woman hovered around anxiously and Nancy assumed that she was a friend of the patient.

The blonde nurse cut open her shirt and attached wires to her chest to monitor her weak heartbeat. She couldn't help glancing at the pale face. It was so familiar, she was sure she had seen her before.

"C'mon Miss Sidle, don't give up yet." A doctor said and it hit her. Sara Sidle. Catherine's Sara. How many times had she listened to her big sister talk about this woman?

"Nancy? Nancy!?" The harsh voice snapped her back. The nurse passed the equipment she was holding to someone else and left the room hurriedly. She took a deep breath before running into the staff room to get her phone.

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Catherine was busily filling out paperwork when her phone rang. Without taking her eyes off her reports she answered. "Willows. Oh, hey Nance." She answered cheerfully when she heard her sister's familiar voice. But the tone of Nancy's voice told her this was not a social call.

"You need to come to the hospital. It's about Sara."

"Sara? Is she all right? What's happened?" Catherine rambled worriedly.

"Just get down here now." With that Nancy hung up. Catherine didn't need to be told twice, she dropped the phone, grabbed her stuff and was pulling out of the lab parking lot within two minutes.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Nancy!" she called, running through the hospital corridor when she spotted her sibling. Nancy immediately put her hands out to grab Cath's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. "Where is she? Is she all right?" the older woman was obviously frantic.

"She's stable. She was brought in earlier after her girlfriend found her. She'd slit her wrists." Nancy explained gently. Catherine's face paled and her sister carefully guided her down onto a seat and crouching down in front of her.

"No. No, she wouldn't…why?" Catherine furrowed her brow, trying to get her head around the news. "She's ok?" she asked again.

"She'll be fine. It was a close call for a while there, she lost a lot of blood but she will be ok." Cath nodded slowly, digesting the information.

"Can I see her?"

"Her girlfriend's with her at the moment but I'll see what I can do." She stood up and squeezed Catherine's shoulder before walking down the corridor, leaving Catherine in her thoughts.

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When Sara awoke she blinked a few times while her eyes adjusted to the bright lights. She tried to sit up but found that she could not move her arms. She tried again. Nothing. She couldn't move. Her eyes flashed wide open and she pulled her arms furiously, achieving nothing.

"Hey, hey it's ok. You're ok honey." A soft voice was calling to her, gently holding her down. Sara looked up into Lydia's caring eyes, then back at her wrists, which were strapped to the bed rail. A hospital bed no less. Well, that would explain why she couldn't move.

"What happened?" She asked shakily, looking at Lydia pleadingly. The blonde smiled sadly at her.

"You don't remember? You hurt yourself Sara." The brunette glanced back at her wrists, which were bound in crisp white bandage. She flexed her fingers and felt that familiar pain shoot up her arms.

"No, this isn't right." She whispered.

"I know honey, but we can fix it. I promise I can make it all better." Lydia stroked her hair tenderly.

"No! I didn't do this." Sara shouted, pulling away as far as her restraints would allow.

"Baby it's ok, you don't have to lie to me. We'll get you help alright, I promise."

"I don't need help, I need you to get me out of these." She yanked pitifully on the straps that were binding her.

"Sara stop. The doctors know what's best for you."

"Like hell they do! Let me go!" She yelled louder. "Sara, baby it's ok I won't hurt you. I just want to help you." Lydia said sweetly. Sara stopped struggling, exhausted by the effort. Lydia reached over and undid the straps that had been used to restrain Sara in case she tried to hurt herself again. The brunette smiled gratefully, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. This wasn't right. Lydia kissed her forehead. "Its ok now baby, no one will hurt you. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

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Catherine took a deep breath before cautiously entering the room. Sara was laid on the bed asleep and Lydia was sat next to her, holding her close. The younger blonde looked up when Catherine entered and her features hardened.

"How is she?" Cath asked softly, looking her friend over. Bright white bandages bound her small wrists.

"She'll be fine now. You should go, she can't handle any more stress right now." Lydia said coolly, getting off the bed but Catherine didn't move.

"I don't to cause her any stress, I just need to talk to her." She insisted.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. You don't understand her. I'm going to take care of her now, so why don't you…" Lydia was cut off by a quiet voice.

"Cat?" both blondes looked to the bed where Sara had stirred and was watching them curiously.

"Hey baby, you're supposed to be resting." Lydia was back by her side in an instant, but Sara's eyes were fixed on Catherine.

"I'm kinda thirsty, could you get me a drink?" she asked Lydia, giving her best atttempt at puppy dog eyes. Lydia reluctantly left them alone, but shot Catherine a warning glance on the way out. Once alone Catherine moved over to the bed and took Sara's hand in hers.

"Hey, you. How're you feeling?" she asked softly. Sara sat up and shrugged.

"Confused." Cath nodded sympathetically.

"Oh honey, why did you do this?"

"No, I didn't do this." Catherine's expression obviously gave away her scepticism. "I didn't. I can't explain it but I did not do this." The blonde stroked her hair softly. "It's ok sweetheart, just relax. Tell me what happened."

"I came home from work, went into the kitchen and that's all I remember." Catherine opened her mouth to speak but just then Lydia returned and moved round to the other side of the bed.

"Sara, you know what the doctor said, lying won't help." Sara started to get upset and angry tears trickled down her face.

"Catherine I swear I didn't do this! You have to believe me!" Sara pleaded with her.

"Sar, you're not well, we're just trying to help you." Lydia stepped closer to the bed but Sara shuffled away, closer to Catherine, who reached out and placed a firm hand on the brunette's shoulder.

"I didn't do this! Please Catherine!"

"Sara honey it's ok, just calm down. Everything's going to be alright, just let us help you." Sara fought them off, kicking at the sheets and trying to get up. The commotion caused a nurse to come in and, upon seeing Sara struggling, held her arm still with a grip of steel while she administered a sedative. The young brunette continued to fight back until she felt herself getting lighter and her eyes drifted closed. Lydia sat back next to her and kissed her head softly, before fixing Catherine with an icy glare.

"I told you not to upset her. She needs help not stress!" Catherine opened her mouth to defend herself but Lydia didn't give her chance. "Just go." The older woman sighed and left, but not before placing a feather soft kiss on Sara's knuckles.

Outside the room Catherine broke down. She had promised Sara that she would always be there for her and yet she felt helpless. She knew that there was nothing she could do for Sara here so reluctantly walked away from her friend.

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**Next chapter will be up tomorrow or possibly tonight x**


	10. Team Support

Catherine called the hospital that night to check on Sara's condition before going into work. She was told that her young colleague was sleeping peacefully. With that in mind, Catherine took a deep breath and prepared herself for breaking the news to her team. She knew that she should have called Grissom earlier but couldn't quite find the words to do it. She had not yet gotten her head around it herself yet.

She knew that Sara had things to deal with but she never thought it was this serious. And the brunette seemed so insistent that she hadn't done it. Catherine wanted more than anything to believe her friend, and a part of her did, but why would someone want to make it look like Sara tried to kill herself? The only person she could think of was Lydia, but seeing her at the hospital showed her how much she cared about Sara. She was a little clingy but she wasn't an attempted murderer.

She sent the guys a page telling them to meet her in Grissom's office at the start of shift before she headed into the safety of her own office to organise her thoughts and compose herself.

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"Hey Griss, what's up?" Warrick asked, entering the bugman's office, followed closely by Nick and Greg, Grissom looked up from his laptop, confused by the intrusion from his team. When he didn't speak Warrick continued. "Catherine paged us, asked us to meet her here. She didn't tell you?" Before he could answer the blonde herself entered the room.

"Hi guys. Thanks for coming." She announced, walking around Grissom's desk to stand next to him.

"Catherine, what can we do for you?" Grissom asked politely, raising an eyebrow. She sighed.

"There's something I need to tell you and it's going to hurt." She opened her mouth to carry on but Greg interrupted her.

"Wait, Cath, where's Sara? Shouldn't she be here?" The boys looked around, as if noticing for the first time their missing colleague.

"It's about Sara. She's not going to be coming in tonight, not for a while actually." She paused, trying to form her next words without throwing up. "She's in hospital. She tried to kill herself today." Her voice was almost a whisper, and when she finished a deathly silence fell over the room as everyone processed the words.

"No, not…is she ok?" Nick stammered, a frown etched into his handsome features.

"Physically, she's fine. Emotionally…that's anyone's guess." Catherine answered. Warrick rubbed a hand over his face wearily.

"What happened? Why did she do it?" He asked, not really sure he wanted to know but knowing that he had to ask anyway. Catherine sighed.

"She slit her wrists. But she insists that she didn't actually do it."

"Well maybe she didn't." Greg spoke for the first time. Catherine looked at him sympathetically.

"Greg, I really want to believe that but…"

"What? She could have been attacked."

"Greg, she was found in her apartment by her girlfriend. The door was locked, Sara was alone."

"Girlfriend?" Grissom asked, startling Catherine slightly. She had forgotten he was behind her.

"Lydia Hart. They've been seeing each other for a few months. She went round to Sara's, found her unconscious in the bathroom."

"Maybe she did it." Nick announced.

"No Nicky, Lydia wouldn't hurt Sara. Look, I know that this is really hard to believe but Sara needs our help right now. She's…lost."

"No, this doesn't make sense. We would have known if something was wrong." The Texan insisted.

"Sara told me the other day that she had a lot to deal with but that she was talking to someone about it. She's been feeling like this for a while."

"You knew? And you didn't try to help her?" Nick did not get angry often but when he did it wasn't pretty. Catherine tried to placate him.

"I offered my help, she knew that she could talk to me."

"Well that's not enough!" Warrick put a hand on Nick's arm, calming him down.

"Hey man, it's not Cath's fault. You know Sara; she's too stubborn to ask for help. And this isn't helping her." Warrick's words seemed to strike a chord with Nick and he settled down, nodding his apology at Catherine. The blonde smiled weakly in acceptance.

"Sara is in a very vulnerable place right now and she needs our support." She said quietly.

"Yeah, of course. Man, I can't believe we let her down like this." Warrick sighed, dropping into a seat.

"She could have told us, she chose not to." Grissom's voice not as Cath expected it, it was hard, distant.

"Gil, I don't think this was her plan. She was probably scared, reached breaking point and didn't know what else to do."

"You spoke to her? Today? What else did she say, I mean did she give you any clue as to why she might have…wanted to…"

"No," she cut him off, "all she said was that it 'wasn't right' and she didn't do it. She was…frightened, and confused."

"We should go see her, she'll need us." Nick stated.

"No, not right now. We've still got work to do." Grissom's voice was still cold, detached.

"Gil's right, and besides, Lydia's staying with her. She'll be ok. After shift we'll go for breakfast then we'll go see her." Catherine assured the boys before they all shuffled out subdued, leaving Catherine and Grissom alone.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" her voice was low, dangerously low. "Our girl is lying in that hospital, scared and distressed, and you don't seem to care. What is with you?"

"She should have told me." He said softly, letting the smallest hint of emotion show through for the first time.

"And what would you have done Gil? Told her to take a few days off, supplied her with a quote from some long-dead poet that's supposed to make everything better? It doesn't matter anymore Gil, our main concern now is to help Sara deal with her demons and to show her that we love her and we're here for her. If you can't do that then just stay away from her. The last thing she needs right now is you blaming her." She turned and walked to the door, stopping briefly to fix him with a warning glare. "I will do everything in my power to protect that girl, from anything or anyone that I have to."


	11. Scientific approach

**Sorry if this chapter doesn't really make sense but I thought i'd post it anyway. Hope you enjoy, and yes Lydia will get her cumuppance eventually. x**

* * *

"I didn't do this, I can't explain it but it wasn't me." Sara tried, weariness showing in her voice.

"And what about the other times? I know you've done this before." Catherine challenged. Patient-doctor confidentiality aside, Nancy had done some digging on her behalf. Sara's face paled slightly at Catherine's revelation.

"Ok, I admit to that but this times different. I was desperate those times, I had no other option."

"Sara there is always other options, you can talk to someone. Talk to us." Sara didn't answer so Cath took a different approach. "Alright, we're scientists right? So, what's your theory? What happened?"

"Well, I didn't lock the door when I came home, maybe someone followed me in, hit me," she touched the cut on her head lightly as if to emphasize her point. "Made it look like I tried to kill myself."

"Ok, who? And why?" Sara shrugged. "Do you think Lydia could have done this?" Sara shook her head vehemently.

"No, never. Lyds wouldn't do this."

"Ok, so someone, but you don't know who, followed you into your apartment, knocked you out, carried you into the bathroom and slit your wrists." Catherine raised an eyebrow at her sceptically. "Honey, don't you think that's a little far-fetched? You were stressed, upset and you wanted the feeling to end. You hit your head when you collapsed." Catherine reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind Sara's ear, next to the shallow gash. Sara shook her head.

"I didn't do this Cath. I know I didn't. Its all wrong." She murmured to herself. Cath was saved from speaking when a clattering behind her caught their attention. They turned to the door, where Nick, Warrick and a sheepish Greg had literally stumbled through.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt y'all." Nick grinned lazily, handing the flowers he was holding to Warrick and walking over to wrap Sara in a bear hug.

"Hey girl, what you done to yourself huh?" Warrick placed the flowers on the bedside table and took Sara into his arms once Nick had released his hold on her. She didn't speak but the young brunette looked at Catherine, hoping for her to help her answer that. Catherine didn't say anything, just offered a comforting smile and patted her leg softly. She noticed Lydia hovering in the doorway but as soon as she met her gaze the younger blonde left the room. Cath made an excuse and hurried after her, leaving Sara suffocating, now in Greg's strangling hug.

* * *

"Lydia, wait. I need to ask you…can you tell me exactly what happened when you found Sara?" Catherine chased after her, catching her up in the corridor.

"Look, I really…"

"Please," Cath cut her off, fixing her with the best pleading look she could muster. "It could help. Just tell me what you did, in as much detail as you can."

"I went to Sara's, unlocked the door – I have a key – the room was a mess, like Sara had thrown stuff around, magazines and things. I know what Sara's like, she can lash out at things when she gets upset, and can lash out at herself, and I thought that she might have done something stupid so I went to her room, then the bathroom and I found her unconscious, bleeding. She was holding the razor blade. I called an ambulance, then I held her, tried to stop the bleeding. That's all I can say." Catherine nodded as she spoke, listening intently.

"Ok, thank you. Erm, Sara mentioned something about speaking to a friend of hers, a school councillor?"

"Dan Fitzgerald." Lydia looked slightly puzzled when Catherine mentioned this, as if she wasn't aware of it.

"Do you know where I can find him?" Catherine probed further.

"No sorry, I don't know where he lives." Lydia smiled apologetically and Cath thanked her anyway before leaving. Lydia watched the blonde walk away, invisibly shaken by Catherine's questions.

* * *

Catherine sighed. Lydia wasn't kidding. She had gone back to the lab to get Sara's spare key that was stuck to the roof of her locker. For the whole ride over she had been replaying Lydia's words, not wanting to forget a thing in case it was important.

And was now stood amongst the mess of Sara's apartment. Apart form the books, magazines and CD cases strewn about the floor and the kicked over coffee table, the apartment looked exactly like Cath imagined. It was stylish, warm, welcoming. It personified the side of Sara that people did not see very often, but that Catherine had glimpsed in recent months. Swallowing hard, she made the difficult journey into the bathroom. She knew that Lydia hadn't been back here yet; Sara had told her that she had not left her alone for a second. There was a blood pool on the floor, and a little bit of blood on the counter, presumably where Sara had hit her head. The blade was still submerged in the deep crimson liquid and it made Cath sick to her stomach. She left the room and gulped in the air. So much blood. It must have been heartbreaking for Lydia to find her like that.

"_I held her, tried to stop the bleeding_" Cath thought back to when she first arrived at the hospital, first seen Lydia. She had looked awful, but there was barely a spot of blood on her clothes. Definitely not enough for if she'd held Sara close. Of course she could have gotten changed at the hospital. Still, it was interesting.

Putting the thought to the back of her mind for the time being she made her way to the bedroom. A part of her felt wrong invading Sara's personal space like this, but she needed to know if Sara or Lydia was telling the truth. Or both. If Sara was suicidal then she needed help and they would need to know why to help her. But if she wasn't then someone had done this to her.

Catherine was startled out of her thoughts by a noise behind her. She spun around, her hand instinctively going to her hip, even though she was not carrying her weapon, and was surprised to see…

"Greg?" she sighed relieved. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured you'd come here. Thought I could help." He offered.

"Well that's sweet, but I don't know what I'm looking for." She sat on the bed. Greg was quiet for a moment.

"You don't think she did it either." Catherine looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"I don't know. The more I think about this the more it doesn't feel right." Greg nodded silently and sat next to her. "I mean, she admitted to me that she had things to deal with but she said she was talking to someone."

"Like a councillor?" Greg scrunched up his nose.

"Yeah, a friend of hers. Dan Fitzgerald." Cath sighed.

"Oh, Lucas' brother." The blonde looked up sharply, making Greg jump.

"You know him?"

"Sara and I went for a drink once, we ran into a mate of hers, Lucas Fitzgerald. Said he had a brother, I'm sure she said his name was Dan." Catherine's mind was whirring as Greg spoke…Lucas.

"_Lucas! Put me down!" _That's the guy Sara had been with at Scarlett Bar. Catherine leapt up eagerly, a thought forming in her mind.

"Greg, you've always wanted to get out into the field right? Now is your chance. I want you to process this apartment."

"What? I don't know how?" The lab tech frowned.

"You'll be fine, just put anything you think might be important into a separate plastic bag and take it to the lab. Wear gloves, my case is in my car. I'm borrowing yours. She handed Greg her keys and took his, running out of the apartment and climbing into Greg's car, trying to ignore the smell of cheeseburgers. Greg could handle it; after all it wasn't an official investigation. _Yet_, she thought.

In the meantime, she needed a drink. And she knew just the place, a retro little bar away from the Strip.

* * *

**Let me know what you think x**


	12. Friends

**Hi y'all. The characters in this story are based on Neighbours (Australian soap for those who don't watch it). I do not own neighbours or any of its characters/locations, i am just borrowing them. **

**Anyways, onwards with the story. Should be a new chapter up tonight. Enjoy x**

* * *

The bar was just as she remembered it; warm, inviting, relaxed. She walked up to the bar and instantly recognised the biker chick, who came over and smiled at her.

"Hi, what can I get you?" she asked.

"Information actually. I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find Dan Fitzgerald." She watched the woman's expression change from friendly to wary.

"Who's asking?" Catherine held up her CSI ID card.

"I'm Catherine Willows, and you are…?"

"Steph Scully. You here about Sara?" there was a note of sadness in her voice and Cath remembered seeing Sara talking to her that first night she was here. Steph must be a friend of hers too.

"Yeah, do you have a home address for Mr Fitzgerald?"

"Course, he lives next door to me. 30 Ramsey Street, Henderson."

"Thank you." Cath was about to leave.

"Hey, is Sara doing ok? I mean she's gonna be alright isn't she?" Steph's tough façade had dropped and she was clearly worried about her mate.

"Yeah, the doctors say she's gonna be fine." Catherine saw an opening to do some digging. "You know her quite well, did you ever see this coming? I mean did she seem upset, or depressed at all?"

"No, the opposite in fact. She seemed more settled recently; most relaxed I've ever known her. She told me that she was dealing with some stuff from her past and that it was helping. I never thought she'd do this." Catherine thanked Steph and departed, a new destination in mind.

* * *

Catherine found the street, more of a cul-de-sac really, and pulled up outside number 30. She wasn't sure what she was going to say yet but figured it would come to her soon enough. She knocked on the door but there was no answer so she raised her hand to knock again when a brunette woman about Sara's age opened the door.

"Hi, I'm looking for Dan Fitzgerald." Catherine said politely. The woman's expression hardened. 'Man, people in this neighbourhood are cagey', she thought.

"Dan." The woman called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off Catherine. A man appeared down the hall and walked towards them.

"Hi, I'm Catherine Willows, I need to talk to you. It's about Sara Sidle." The brunette woman's ears pricked up.

"Sara? Is she all right? I mean, after what happened?"

"She's doing ok. I work with her at the crime lab, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." They let her in and Dan pointed at the woman, whose features had softened.

"This is my wife Libby. So, how can I help?" Catherine nodded at Libby.

"Sara mentioned to me a few days ago that she'd been talking to you, that you were helping her to deal with some stuff from her past."

"Yeah, I mean I'm not a professional or anything, I'm a school councillor but she just wanted someone to talk to. But, all the same she told me that stuff in confidence, I couldn't…"

"That's ok, I don't need to know what she told you. I just wanted to know what sort of state of mind she was in. Whether you thought she was going to do anything like this." Dan sighed and rubbed a hand through his blonde hair.

"No, she was doing ok. If I'd thought for one minute that she was going to do this I would have gotten her some help. To be honest this is the last thing I expected of her right now. The simple fact that she was trying to deal with her past means she was in a positive frame of mind, optimistic. Suicide attempts are usually by people who've given up hope altogether and feel there's no other way out." He may not be a professional but he sure sounded like one.

"Have you ever seen her lash out, at a person, or an object, or herself, when she's upset?" Cath asked, testing Lydia's words. Libby spoke up.

"No, never. Sara's always very in control of her emotions." Catherine nodded. "Do you think that she didn't do this?" Libby asked, almost hopeful.

"She says that she didn't. And Sara's never lied to me before. I just want to know if there were any warning signs that we missed but most of what I've heard is that she seemed fine." Catherine paused, debating whether or not to ask her next question. "What do you think of Lydia?"

"She seems nice, a little quiet maybe." Dan said. Libby did not look quite that certain.

"She's kind of clingy around Sara though, I think it bugged Sar a little." Libby's expression darkened. "You don't think she did this do you?" Catherine shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm just trying to get my head around this. If Sara's telling the truth and she didn't do it then someone else did." Libby and Dan nodded. Deciding that she had enough to go on for now Catherine stood up to leave. "Thank you for your time, if you think of anything else give me a call." She handed them a card and let herself out, taking a deep breath.

* * *

Sara was not ill. She had not been depressed and she had taken the initiative to deal with her problems head on. More importantly, she had the support of many friends. So why would she try to kill herself?

Catherine already knew the answer to that. She wouldn't.

* * *

**Reviews make my day :)**


	13. Lies

**See, i promised a new chapter, and if i get many many reviews i may even get a third one up today :)**

* * *

Catherine pulled into the lab parking lot and entered the lab with one destination in mind. She waltzed past reception, ignoring Judy's welcome, and past the break room, straight into Greg's DNA lab. "Greg. Tell me you've found something." She announced, not even saying hello.

"Well, I brought in the blade from the bathroom floor but couldn't get any prints off it, however I did find a broken mug in the kitchen trash can. I wasn't sure if it was important but I brought it anyway and I found blood on the edge, its Sara's. Mandy's running fingerprints now. And I've got Archie going through CCTV from Sara's apartment building. I noticed a camera outside the main door; if someone went in after Sara then we'll find him. Did you find anything?"

"I spoke to some of Sara's friends, none of them saw this coming. They all say she was happy, settled. Even the guy who was counselling her said she was doing ok. If there were any warning signs then it seems everyone missed them."

"Yeah, everyone except Lydia." Greg said. Catherine nodded in agreement.

"Keep me informed yeah. I'm going back to the hospital." She got as far as the break room when Nick appeared by her side.

"Greg says you don't think she did this." He stated, no need to explain who or what he was talking about.

"No Nicky I don't and I'm going to prove it."

"Don't you think that this is going to make things worse, I mean if we indulge her then she'll never face up to her problems." The Texan explained, looking both sad and angry. "We need to help her Catherine, not run around trying to find blame."

"I am helping her. If you want to accept this than fine but I know she didn't try to kill herself and I am going to prove it, with or without your help." She strutted off down the hall, leaving Nick in her wake.

"If you're wrong you'll only make things harder for her." He called after her, but his warning fell on deaf ears.

* * *

"Babe, you've got to stop lying, it's not helping anyone." Lydia chastised gently. Sara had spent the better half of an hour trying to explain that she did not try to kill herself but Lydia was having none of it and was getting more and more riled up by her girlfriend's arguments.

"I'm not lying, why won't anyone listen to me." Sara whined. Lydia finally snapped.

"Sara no one is going to believe you, ok! You have got to let this go and let us help you damn it!" Sara pulled away from her.

"Catherine will believe me, she will figure this out I know she will." Sara insisted.

"No she won't. Catherine thinks you're mad! She thinks that you need help. Why do you think she left so suddenly this afternoon? She doesn't want to be around you!" Angry tears trickled down Sara's face.

"That's not true! Cath knows me, she…" Lydia cut her off by grabbing her shoulders roughly.

"Catherine is not coming back! She doesn't know how to help you; she's trying to get you committed. She thinks you need to be locked up for your own safety." Lydia lied, shaking Sara. The brunette started crying harder, scared both by Lydia's violence and by the thought that Catherine had turned against her. "Don't you see Sara, I'm the only one who's really here for you. I'm the only one you can trust." She searched Sara's brown eyes but the young CSI lashed out, pulling away from Lydia and yanking on the wires and tubes attaching her to the machines, trapping her. A nurse heard the commotion and came running in, armed with a sedative to administer. Sara panicked when she saw the needle and started fighting even more, as the nurse and Lydia both tried to restrain her.

* * *

Catherine had just pulled into the hospital parking lot when her cell phone rang.

"This is Catherine." She answered automatically.

_"Cath, it's Greg. I found something, well actually Archie found something."_

"Spit it out Greg." Catherine said impatiently.

_"Well, he was going through the CCTV tapes and…"_

* * *

**:) What had Greggo found and will cath get there in time?**


	14. Truth

**Got many requests for the next chapter tonight so here we go. Hope you like, and thank you for the reviews. Also, for those of you who requested that CAth should hit Lydia, i hope this doesn't dissapoint :)**

* * *

Catherine could hear the noise form down the hall and set off at a run. She burst into Sara's room to see both Lydia and a nurse trying to restrain Sara, while the nurse was brandishing a hypodermic needle. Sara was struggling and putting up quite a good fight against both of them but obviously losing. Catherine dropped her bag and ran over to the bed, pulling Lydia out of the way and grasping Sara's hand. Sara stopped struggling so much and looked up at Catherine with scared brown eyes.

"Cat, I'm not crazy I swear. I know this sounds mad but I didn't try to kill myself! I didn't, you have to believe me!" she was crying and it broke Cath's heart to see her friend in such distress.

"I know, I believe you sweetheart, I believe you." The effect those three words had on Sara was immense. She instantly stopped struggling and her eyes radiated hope.

"You do?" she asked quietly. Now that she had stopped moving the nurse saw her chance to inject the sedative but Catherine placed a hand on Sara's arm, preventing her from doing so.

"Hey, hey. She doesn't need that." The woman was about to object but evidently noticed the warning glare from Cath and decided better of it, opting to slip out of the room quietly. Catherine sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Sara into her arms, wrapping her in a warm hug. "I believe you sweetie." She placed a soft kiss on Sara's cheek and wiped away the brunette's tears. "It's going to be ok now." Sara nodded, smiling.

"You're not helping. You should go." The voice startled them both; they had forgotten Lydia was there. "I thought you understood what I said to you the other day." Catherine raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh I got the message loud and clear. Stay away from suicidal Sara." she said sarcastically. "But she's not suicidal is she? You know that don't you Lydia, because you were there." Sara looked from one woman to the next, confusion etched into her features. "You see Lydia, the good thing about having ID cards is that people trust you. And Sara's apartment manager trusted us enough to give us the CCTV tapes. Now, you told us that you went to Sara's, found her in a locked apartment, in the bathroom. Yet the only time we can see you enter that building is four hours before Sara arrived home and you never leave. You were there the whole time." Lydia stuttered but Catherine didn't give her a chance to argue her point. "The call you made to 911 went through at 10:52 am and the CCTV footage shows Sara arriving home at around 10:30 am. That's not really leaving much time to trash the apartment and decide to kill herself. However it would be just enough time for you to knock her out, drag her to the bathroom, slit her wrists and throw away the mug you used to knock her out with." Lydia looked visibly panicked now, as she felt the net closing in on her. Sara was sat shell shocked on the bed and Catherine was stood between her and Lydia, protecting her.

Worn down by the evidence and the strain of lying, Lydia began to break down.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this, it was never supposed to happen like this. I just wanted to protect her, I wanted to look after her and she wouldn't let me. I need her and you were going to take her away, I couldn't' lose her. I'm sorry." She sobbed, babbling. Catherine nodded at the door and Jim Brass appeared in the room, flanked by two uniformed officers. Lydia looked from them to Catherine with horror struck grey eyes. Catherine lifted her shirt slightly, revealing the wire attached to her stomach with tape. Rage seemed to overtake Lydia at this point and she launched herself at Catherine, only to be restrained by the two officers. "You bitch! I knew you were trying to steal her! She's going to hurt you Sara, I was trying to protect you from her! I was trying to protect you!" she hollered as Brass personally handcuffed her.

"I wanted to do this in person. Lydia Hart, you're under arrest for inflicting GBH and perverting the course of justice. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say can and will be used as evidence against you. And believe me, there's gonna be a hell of a lot against you as it is!" Jim growled, leading her out as she continued to wail. Jim prepared to take her away but Catherine called him back. She walked up to Lydia until she was just inches away from her face and in one swift movement slapped her across the cheek, hard enough to leave a bright red handprint

"Now you can take her." She said.

"You saw that, she hit me! Sara, you saw what she did, you all saw it!" Lydia yelled but Brass didn't bat an eyelid.

"Saw what? Get her out of here." Brass ordered, waving a hand at her.

As the officers left, Warrick, Nick and Greg stepped out from behind them and walked into the room. Catherine rubbed her neck tiredly. The spiky-haired lab rat cleared his throat, catching Catherine's attention, and pointed over her shoulder at Sara, who was sat visibly shaking, tears streaming down her pale face. Catherine immediately ran to her and wrapped her in a tight hug,

"It's ok baby, I've got you now. It's all alright, we're here. I've got you my darling, I've got you," she whispered into Sara's hair, rubbing comforting circles on her back and holding the girl as close against her as physically possible. The boys decided to give them a moment and slipped out, leaving Catherine to take care of their friend. "You're safe now."

* * *

**See, no cliffhanger this time :) **


	15. Hugs and dreams

**Hi, sorry for taking longer to update but had a bit of a mental block, (and my boss is being an ass, but thats another story entirely :P) I know its short but my muse is hiding or lost or something. Anyway, hopefully new chapter up soon. Enjoy x**

* * *

Catherine held onto her for a few minutes after Sara stopped shaking, before pulling back a little, still keeping the girl close. "You ok?" she asked softly, stroking Sara's arms with her thumbs. Sara nodded and smiled weakly.

"You hit her." She stated simply. Catherine laughed nervously, a blush creeping into her face.

"Yeah, sorry you had to see that. I wouldn't normally…she just…" Sara took her hand, getting her attention, and fixed her with warm gaze.

"Thank you." Cath stopped rambling and smiled.

"You're welcome. She deserved it." Sara's eyes glazed over slightly as she looked around the room, not really seeing anything.

"I can't believe she…she did this. Why would she…?" she trailed off. Cath took Sara's face between her hands and stared into those deep, soulful dark eyes.

"Sara, sweetheart you did not deserve any of this, ok. Only Lydia knows why she did this. And it doesn't matter why, because we've got you now and I'm not ever going to let you go." Sara stared at her with big brown eyes, taking in what Cath was saying, and caught the older woman off guard by leaning forward and catching her lips in a quick, sudden kiss. They pulled apart just in time, as the boys poked their head through the door.

"Safe to return?" Nick asked, flashing the girls a grin." Catherine stuttered and nearly choked on her words, still staring at Sara with wide eyes.

"Yeah…of course!" her voice sounded oddly high even to her own ears. Sara was smiling shyly at her.

Nick and Warrick walked in, and Greg bounded in after them like the Honey Monster on ecstasy and bounced up to Sara, throwing his arms around her neck.

"Hi, I knew you didn't do it, I knew it! I told them and Cath and I went to your apartment, and I got to collect evidence, I mean it won't count in court but we've got a confession so that doesn't matter, but we did it!" the lab rat babbled insanely, only pausing to breathe when Nick placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Take a breath man," The Texan said, moving around the younger man to give Sara a friendly hug. "Hey Sara, I am so sorry, we should have listened to you." Warrick was next to wrap his baby sister in a tight embrace.

"Yeah girl, we know you'd never do anything like this, guess it was just a shock." Sara just smiled, accepting their apologies.

"But you know what I don't get, why would Lydia go to all that trouble, just to confess like that?" Nick asked. Catherine, having regained her motor functions, shrugged.

"Well, with us lot sniffing around it had to have been stressful for her trying to hide it and she hadn't been home in three days. Exhaustion and stress can be too much for some people." They all nodded at Cath's explanation and, deciding the mood was too dark in here, Greg changed the subject.

"So Sara, how many women have you slept with?" he asked cheekily, waggling his eyebrows. The boys grinned and Catherine rolled her eyes but Sara didn't even flinch.

"More than you." Nick, Warrick and Catherine descended into laughter while Greg pouted.

"I never stood a chance did I?" she shook her head. "Oh well, ce la vie. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere." He turned to gaze at Catherine over his shoulder, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. The blonde woman merely raised an eyebrow.

"Dream on test-tube boy."

* * *

**:) Free smiles for all who review :)**


	16. Caught in the kiss

**I don't know how much of this makes sense but i swear i am going somewhere with it. x**

* * *

"I was confused." Lydia insisted.

"You said that you were trying to protect her. Who were you protecting her from?" Brass ignored her whining and pressed on. "Catherine? Did you think that Catherine was going to hurt Sara?"

"She will hurt her." The blonde growled.

"So why make it look like Sara had hurt herself?"

"I didn't!" She yelled, standing up, only to be forced back into her seat by a police officer.

"Lydia, we have your fingerprints on the mug that was used to knock Sara out, and we have a taped confession. Now why did you do it?"

"Because that bitch was going to steal her! She would have hurt her! I needed to protect Sara but _she_ told Sara to leave me. This was the only way I could protect her. I never wanted to hurt her." She sobbed. However, Brass was not falling for her crocodile tears.

"How do you know she told Sara to leave you?"

"I heard them. At that conference, I heard them talking in their room." She sniffed. Brass raised an eyebrow.

"How? Did you have a recorder in Sara's belongings?"

"No, I went there to surprise Sara, and that…_woman_ was telling her leave me! She didn't understand Sara, she'll hurt her, you'll see!" Brass rolled his eyes; this woman was clearly not all there anymore.

"You still haven't explained why."

"Because she needed my help. She just couldn't see it. She needed help and I showed her that."

"So, you thought Sara needed help…"

"She does need help!"

"…and since she wasn't going to ask you for it you decided to make her need your help by injuring her." Jim continued, ignoring Lydia's interruptions.

"You don't understand her. Only I understand her!"

"Well, I tell you what, why don't you sit there and try to understand this. You are going to jail for inflicting GBH, possibly attempted murder depending on what the DA decides, and you are never getting within a hundred feet of Sara again." Jim said, deadpan, and left the room. Lydia dropped her head onto her arms, folded on the table. This was all wrong.

* * *

Once the boys had departed and Catherine and Sara were left alone again the blonde perched on the edge of the bed and took Sara's hand in hers.

"Sweetie, I know that you've been through a lot and I can only imagine how hard this must be for you but I want you to know that I'm here for you. And, if you want to, you are welcome to stay with me for a while. You know if you don't want to stay on your own." Sara smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, that's really sweet, but I'll be ok."

"Ok, well you know where I am if you change your mind. Or if you need to talk, or cry, or anything. Ever." She pulled Sara into her arms and rubbed her back soothingly, feeling the girl relax into her embrace. It struck Catherine how much their relationship had changed; there was a time that Sara tensed whenever Cath touched her.

She pulled back and looked at the blanket nervously for a moment speaking. "Hey Sar? About…that kiss?" A blush crept onto Sara's cheeks as she laughed timidly.

"Yeah, sorry I just…" Cath stopped her.

"Hey, it's ok. I was just shocked that's all. You kinda caught me off guard." She paused, looking at their conjoined hands. "It was nice." She said quietly. Sara blinked. Had she heard that right? Judging by Cath's shy smile she had. Taking a chance, Sara slowly leant in to meet Catherine's lips in a soft, chaste kiss. Catherine responded and gradually deepened the kiss by running her tongue along Sara's lips, seeking entrance. The brunette obliged and their tongues met in a gentle duel.

The tender moment was rudely interrupted by a clattering in the doorway. The women pulled apart and Catherine blushed when she realised who was staring at them with wide eyes.

* * *

**Oooh, who caught our favourite girls making out? Answers on a postcard...or a review :)**


	17. Damn the law

**Hey, i know its slow going at the moment but i do have a plan x**

* * *

"Hey Nancy." Catherine cleared her throat. Nancy stooped down to pick up the clipboard she had dropped, never taking her eyes off of her sister, opening and closing like a fish out of water. Catherine looked guilty, while Sara was trying to hide her smile. She had just kissed Catherine Willows!

"Cathy, can I speak to you outside for a moment?" the young nurse said between a clenched jaw. Catherine sent Sara a look that said 'I'm in trouble' and kissed her lightly on the forehead before following her sibling out into the hallway. Sara smiled to herself as she watched Cath leave, a slight sway in her hips.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" Nancy exploded as soon as the door was closed. Catherine's lips twitched into a smile.

"Hi Nancy, I'm fine thanks how're you?" she joked sarcastically. Nancy didn't laugh.

"I'm serious Cath, what were you doing in there?"

"What did it look like I was doing?" Cath raised an eyebrow. Nancy mimicked the motion. "Oh c'mon Nance, I never thought you'd have a problem with this. Mom maybe, but I thought you'd understand."

"Catherine, I don't have a problem with you dating a woman if that makes you happy. But that girl has been through a hell of a lot recently."

"You don't think I know that!" Cath hissed, trying to keep her voice down so that Sara wouldn't hear her through the door.

"Her girlfriend tried to kill her Cathy, do you really think that she needs this now?" Catherine opened her mouth to speak but Nancy cut her off. "She needs support Cath, friends to help her deal with this and recover. She does not need a rebound relationship that will no doubt cause her more stress in the long run."

"Rebound? Look Nancy, I appreciate your concern for her but I know what Sara needs." She turned and walked back to Sara's room, leaving her little sister alone in the corridor.

* * *

"Everything ok?" Sara asked when Cath slipped back through the door. The blonde nodded. She resumed her place on the edge of Sara's bed.

"It will be. Anyway, where were we?" She flashed Sara a grin, leaning in to capture the younger woman's lips in a short, sweet kiss. Once they pulled apart she tenderly brushed brunette bangs out of Sara's face, tucking them carefully behind her ear. "Hey, is this ok? I mean, I don't want to rush you into anything, if you need time to deal with everything that's happened I understand."

"Thank you. But I'm ok. Well, I'm not ok obviously," she gestured to her wrists, "but I really like you Cath. I want this." Catherine smiled and changed position so that she had her arm around Sara's shoulders.

"Good. But if you need anything, time or space, or just to talk, you let me know ok. I'm right here." Sara nodded and nestled herself into the crook of Catherine's neck. The older CSI smiled down at her affectionately and placed a soft kiss into her hair. "Everything's going to be ok now."

* * *

"You've got to be kidding!" Nick roared.

"DA is refusing to press charges. Claims the confession was gained unlawfully and through duress so cannot be admitted as evidence. Without that we've got nothing." Brass huffed.

"This is a joke." Warrick growled. "She tried to kill Sara and the DA is just going to let her walk free! What about the CCTV? And the mug with Sara's blood and her fingerprints?"

"The tape doesn't show Lydia hurting Sara and the lawyers are claiming that Lydia's fingerprints could have gotten on that mug anytime, and Sara's blood could be from when she trashed the apartment. They're still insisting she tried to kill herself. Not to mention, that evidence was collected by Greg"

"Man this is crap!" Nick yelled, kicking the couch in frustration.

"Can we at least keep her away from Sara?" Greg asked eagerly.

"The judge has issued a temporary restraining order until we can find more evidence, but it won't hold for long." The detective sighed, flopping down on the couch.

"This sucks!" Greg moaned.

"This is only the start." All eyes turned to Grissom, who had been stood quietly in the doorway until now. "We still need to decide who has to tell Catherine and Sara."


	18. A caring hand

Sara was relieved to hear that she could go home the next day and Catherine insisted on picking her up and taking her home. And, as Sara was learning, when Catherine Willows insists on something there is no use arguing.

So, Catherine arrived at the hospital at lunchtime and Sara was already getting ready to leave, albeit slowly. Cath couldn't suppress the grin as she watched Sara struggling to get undressed. The blonde observed her trying to untie her hospital gown, which was proving difficult since she couldn't bend her wrists due to the stark white bandages binding them, before deciding to alert Sara to her presence.

"Do you need some help there Miss Sidle?" the young woman paused mid-motion and sent a glance towards the door.

"No, I'm good, I…." She said, twisting round to try and reach the tie, before giving up and dropping her hands onto the bed. "Yeah please." Cath walked over and gently encouraged Sara to turn around so that she could unfasten the tie at Sara's back. She pushed the gown off of Sara's shoulders and, even thought the brunette had her back to her, Cath could see her tense up at being so revealed and it struck her that she had never seen so much of Sara before. Unable to resist touching the soft skin, the older woman placed her hands on Sara's sides and slowly slid them around to rest on her toned stomach. She leant forward; placing butterfly kisses onto Sara's shoulders. Sara began to relax a little and tilted her head back, allowing Catherine more access to her neck. The blonde's hands crept up and her fingers gently traced the underside of Sara's breasts. Sara sucked in a breath at the contact.

"You're beautiful." Catherine whispered into her ear.

An alarming noise, probably an alarm, from down the hall reminded them where they were and Catherine straightened up. Sara cleared her throat and started getting dressed while Cath watched, studying her body intently.

Until recently Catherine had thought she was straight despite the fact that, as a stripper, she had slept with a few female dancers. It was, after all, safer than sleeping with the customers. Cath had spent every night surrounded by naked women and recognised beauty when she saw it. And right now she was staring at it.

Sara must have noticed her gaze because she glanced over her shoulder.

"What?" she asked nervously. Cath smiled.

"Nothing." Sara eyed her suspiciously.

"You're staring." She stated, raising an eyebrow.

"That I am." Catherine agreed. "You're very nice to stare at." Sara laughed.

"Is that right? Well I'm glad you think so." She continued getting dressed, but shot Cath a sideways glance. "You're not too bad yourself Miss Willows."

* * *

She knew that they couldn't hold her; she was only protecting her girlfriend. Today the police let her go, with a restraining order and a warning to stay away from Sara. It was a warning she was planning to ignore.

Less than an hour after the police released her she was walking through the hospital corridors to find her girl. She expected to explain the truth to her, and once Sara understood then everything would be ok again. However, she did not expect to find her girl in the arms of another woman. Catherine Willows of all women!

Sara was sat on the bed semi-naked, her back to the door, and Catherine had her arms around her stomach and was kissing her neck. And Sara was naked! She knew Catherine was trying to steal her!

Unable to watch anymore, Lydia turned back down the corridor and stumbled into the nearest room, leaning her back against the wall. She ran a hand through her short-cropped hair and furiously thumped her hands against the wall. A loud alarm sounded, making her jump, and she realised to her horror that she had thumped an alarm on the wall. Several doctors and nurses ran into the room and Lydia slipped out before anyone could see her.

Outside she took several deep breaths. This was so not happening! This could not be happening!!

She had to do something. With one last, hard look back she took of a run away from the hospital.


	19. Of scemes and MOTs

"You've got to be kidding me!" Catherine sighed, running hand through her hair. "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me straight away?" she barked. The guys shrunk back sheepishly and Grissom tried to avoid the angry woman's gaze. Figuring that she wasn't going to get an answer she gave up and changed tack. "When did she get out?"

"Yesterday." Grissom answered eventually, after deliberating between which would be worse; lying to Cath and dealing with her wrath when she found out he'd lied, or getting it over with and dealing with her wrath now. He could see her obvious anger at not being told for a whole day so decided to continue before she had a chance to explode. "And we were thinking that it might be best if you told Sara, since she seems quite close to you." the last part sounded slightly puzzled.

"No!" Catherine answered immediately, before calming down slightly. "No, I don't want Sara to know. Not yet." The guys all looked at her expectantly, wanting an explanation. "Look, Sara's been through enough recently and the only thing that's helping her deal with it is the thought that Lydia is in a place where she cannot hurt herself or anyone else. If she finds out about this now she's only going to worry and I don't want that." Though they were all slightly bemused by Cath's sudden care for their youngest team member, the boys knew better than to mess with an over-protective Catherine Willows. So, they agreed, Sara would be told nothing.

* * *

The brunette in question was at home, completely unawares of the drama unfolding around her, snuggled up in her blanket watching black and white videos of Laurel and Hardy. While Catherine would give anything to see Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise shirtless, her new young girlfriend preferred old movies with the likes of Katherine Hepburn.

After dropping Sara off at her apartment yesterday Catherine had stayed for lunch and dinner and they talked all afternoon. They decided to take things slow but both agreed that they wanted to be together. And both realised for the first time that these feelings were not new for either of them. Sara had wanted Cath for ages, but assumed that was never going to happen. And Catherine, well even Catherine could not keep track of her feelings anymore. She had spent forty years being certain that she was straight, until a tall, mysterious and sexy brunette sauntered into her life.

Catherine had stayed most of the night, having taken it off work, and they had talked and shared secrets, tales of past loves, and speculations about their colleagues until she eventually left after Sara practically threw her out so that she could get some sleep. She had called round the next day before going into work and found Sara cuddled up on the couch with a book. This was partly a social visit because she desperately wanted to see Sara again, but also to pick up an address for Steph's garage.

* * *

The blonde biker chick had been to see Sara in the hospital at the same time as Cath and the two of them had gotten to talking. Catherine had mentioned that her car's MOT was due and Steph told her to bring it round to the garage that she owned and she'd do it for free, since she'd stuck up for Sara. With the address in her hand and the taste of Sara's kiss lingering on her lips, Catherine floated out of the apartment and drove to the garage.

"Hey, good to see you again Catherine," Steph smiled cheerfully, bouncing a young boy on her hip. Cath presumed this to be Charlie, Steph's son. The little boy looked about 3 and had gorgeous blonde curls and a cheeky smile. "Charlie, this is Catherine, she's a friend of your auntie Sara's." Charlie waved and offered a quiet 'hello'.

"Hi Charlie, its very nice to meet you." Catherine ruffled his hair. "Its all yours," she said to Steph, handing over her car keys. "Though I'm not promising what you might find stuck under the seats. My little girl is not the tidiest of creatures." They laughed and Steph bid her goodbye as Catherine set off walking to the lab, since it was only a couple of blocks away.

* * *

Lydia had spent the day fuming. How could Catherine manipulate her girl like that? And how could Sara fall for it? Sara was smarter than that! Maybe they were in on it together. No, Sara wouldn't do that to her. Catherine had stolen her girlfriend. 'I bet Sara didn't want her anywhere near her, but was too scared to tell her to stop touching her' she thought to herself as she made her way to the lab.

She had a plan.

It was simple really. Catherine was the reason that Lydia had had to hurt Sara; she was the reason that Lydia had been arrested. And she was the thing standing in the way of Lydia and Sara being together. So, get rid of Catherine and the world would be right again.

She had been to Sara's apartment and seen Catherine getting into her car, with that stupid smile on her face. She looked happy. She had no reason to be happy, not when she was hurting Sara.

She had followed her to a Steph's garage. What was she doing there? Steph had never really liked Lydia, and the spiky-haired blonde had a feeling that she had a thing for Sara too. They were too friendly, too touchy-feely for Lydia's liking.

She waited for Steph and Catherine to finish chatting and for the CSI to leave. Steph talked with Charlie for a while before getting to work on Catherine's car. A scheme was forming in her mind as she watched the mechanic/bar owner/biker-chick work. Maybe she could eliminate both threats at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

* * *

**Ooooh, whats she gonna do? Review and you'll find out sooner :)**


	20. Little monkeys

**Okay i know i haven't updated in a while, blame my dissapearing muse. However it is back and currently wrking so there should be another update tomorrow. Enjoys xxx**

* * *

The midnight blue car pulled into the garage and stopped on the forecourt. Steph Scully climbed out, closed the door and patted the hood proudly. "Perfect." She smiled to herself. She prided herself on being able to do just as good a job as any male, perhaps even better. And Catherine Willows' car had never run so smoothly. She was just about to pop the hood and give it one last once over before calling Sara to let her know it was done, since it had never occurred to her to get Catherine's number, when a loud clattering noise made her jump.

"Charlie!" She scolded lightly, seeing her little boy grinning shyly, surrounded by many many screws, nails, nuts, bolts and various other small pieces of metal that had previously been tossed into a box. A box that was now laid empty on the floor.

"Oops." Charlie said, looking up at his mother with big blue eyes that made her melt.

"Monkey." She teased, lifting him onto the desk and preceding to pick up the small pieces.

While Steph's back was turned Lydia crept into the garage and picked up the monkey wrench that was abandoned on the floor next to a toolbox.

All of a sudden she was very appreciative of Sara's love of anything with an engine. The number of times Sara had tried to explain the insides of a car to her, well now it was going to come in handy.

* * *

"Mommy, is Sara your girlfriend?" The question caught Catherine off guard. She stuttered a little before clearing her throat and formulating an answer. Or question.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, sitting down at the kitchen table where Lindsey was colouring something in her schoolbook. The seven year old didn't look up from her work as she answered.

"You smile when you talk about her. You've been happy." Catherine shook her head, had she been that obvious? Apparently Lindsey was very perceptive to her mother's emotions.

"Oh. Well, yes Sara is my girlfriend." She couldn't keep the glee out of her voice as she said that. She'd expected it to sound strange saying it out loud but oddly enough it didn't. It sounded right. "Are you ok with that?" Lindsey nodded, furrowing her brow in deep concentration with her colouring.

"I like it when you smile." Catherine laughed. She reached out and tickled her daughter under her chin, causing the little girl to drop her crayons and giggle.

"Good, I like it when you smile too." Catherine laughed, pulling into her lap. "You're really ok with it?" Lindsey nodded, playing absent-mindedly with a strand of Catherine's hair.

"Yep. Sara's nice." Cath smiled.

"Yeah, she is. Thank you baby." She wrapped Lindsey in a tight hug and held her there until the girl squirmed and wriggled back to her work. Catherine watched her, a content little smile gracing her lips until she remembered the food currently burning in the oven.

* * *

She fumbled along the table until her hand found the offending object. "Hello." She mumbled into the phone, her eyes never leaving her book. "Oh hey Steph, what's up?"

"Hey Sar, how're you doing?" Steph asked her friend, having had little chance to talk to her properly in the hospital.

"Good, things are…good." She smiled to herself. "What can I do for you?"

"Catherine's car is done, could you let her know? I'll be in all day so she can pick it up whenever."

"Oh cool." Sara had forgotten all about that. "I'm going to see her today anyway so I'll swing by and pick it up for her later." She had planned to surprise Catherine when she got home from work. Steph agreed and they chatted for a while longer until there was a distinctive crash from Steph's side of the phone. Sara grinned. "Say hi to Charlie for me." she said knowingly.

"Yeah I will, I gotta go Hun, before my darling son destroys the rest of my garage, take care yeah? See you later." Sara put the phone down and went for a shower before going to pick up her girlfriends car. Catherine Willows was her girlfriend. She would never get tired of saying that.


	21. Bad

**I know that this is a really teeny tiny chapter but i promise the next one is going to be much longer and may even be up later tonight. Enjoy x**

* * *

NO! No no no! This was all wrong! Lydia had waited all day for Catherine to arrive to pick up her car. At quarter to three someone arrived. But it wasn't Catherine.

When Lydia first saw Sara wandering up the road her heart skipped. She barely resisted the urge to run over and throw her arms around her, she was that thrilled to see her. That was until she realised why Sara was here.

And it was not good.

* * *

"Hey, well look who's back!" Steph announced when she noticed the brunette sauntering up the road.

"Auntie Sara!" Charlie shrieked, running towards her. Sara crouched down and scooped the little boy up, holding him high in the air, before placing him on her hip.

"Hey Chucky!" she grinned, calling him by his nickname. She placed him back on his feet on the garage forecourt but he stuck by her. Steph walked over, wiping her hands on a dirty rag, and dragged her friend into a hug.

"Good to see you back on your feet Sidle, we've missed ya haven't we?" Charlie nodded eagerly, wrapping his little arms around her long legs. Sara chuckled and eventually freed herself from the grip of the Scullys.

After a few unsuccessful attempts on Steph's part to find out what was going on between Sara and Catherine, the blonde handed over the keys and with a final hug, Sara clambered into the car.

"This isn't over Legs, I'll find out your dirty little secret!" Steph hollered through the open window as Sara pulled out of the forecourt laughing.

* * *

Why was Sara here?! She shouldn't be here. When she saw Steph handing over the keys to Sara her heart skipped a beat. Sara was going to drive Catherine's car. Lydia knew that she should stop her, say something. But she couldn't. She couldn't move. Frozen by fear, all she could do was watch her girl drive off in a ticking time bomb.

This was bad.

What had she done?


	22. Crash

**New, longer update. The was this chapter was written was supposed to reflect the panic that Sara and Catherine would feel but i don't know if it worked. Anyway, hope you like. **

**AN: I know continuity is off but in this story Greg is half lab tech-half trainee CSI and Wendy is already at the lab. My story my rules! :)**

* * *

The afternoon sunlight made the midnight blue VW Sedan shimmer as it swerved across the deserted road. She tried to regain control of the wheel but it spun of its own will, sending the car veering back across the lane and crashing through the barrier, sending the vehicle tumbling upside down over the bank. It rolled a few feet before stopping in the dry desert undergrowth.

After that, all that could be heard was deafening silence.

She blinked slowly, but her vision didn't clear. Everything was hazy. She could feel that something wasn't right, she felt wrong. As things started to become a little more focused she realised why. She was the wrong way round. Everything was on its side.

The crash.

She remembered swerving to avoid another driver who was too busy playing with their stereo to watch the road, and loosing control of the wheel. After that it was all a bit of a blur. Suddenly the seriousness of her situation hit her – she was in a semi-upside down car, injured and bleeding, somewhere off of Blue Diamond Road, and no body knew that she was there.

She was in trouble.

* * *

"No way man, I say it was definitely the girlfriend. I mean she had less to lose and more to gain: with the wife out of the way she would get his financial support and get him to herself, without the competition." Nick insisted.

"Nah, the husband wanted his wife out of the way. She found out about the affair and he killed her so she wouldn't blab and ruin his reputation." Warrick argued. Nick was about to bite back when Grissom held up two hands and silenced them.

"Fellas, do either of you have any physical evidence that could eliminate either suspect? Because if not than this is just speculation." Both boys were silent. Suddenly a vibrating noise caught everyone's attention. Everybody checked their phone and it turned out to be Catherine's.

"This is Catherine." She answered, not even checking the caller ID, while the rest of the team went back to inspecting the crime scene photos spread across the layout room table. That is until Catherine's voice infiltrated their concentration.

"Sara? Oh my God!"

* * *

She could feel blood trickling down her face and neck, and her whole left side was in agony. Trying to think logically she knew that she needed help. And there was only one person she wanted right now. Fumbling blindly in the topsy-turvy car she eventually found her phone tucked inside her bag, which had been flung onto the floor behind her seat. Without even looking at the phone she hit one number and speed dial.

"This is Catherine." The sound was music to her ears and helped her focus through the fog building in her mind.

"Cath, I need help. I crashed. Please…"

* * *

"Sara? Oh my God!" the signal was bad and kept cutting out but she picked up three words. 'Cath…help…crashed'. "Are you ok, where are you?" There was a lot of static and she couldn't hear Sara's response. "Sara please, where are you?" She repeated. The blonde could feel the team's eyes on her, searching for an explanation.

"_Scared…bleeding…"_ she could hear Sara's voice but couldn't make out the words.

"Honey please, tell me where you are." It was impossible to keep the worry out of her voice.

"_Blue Diamond."_ It was fuzzy as the reception cut out but she was sure that's what she said.

"Blue Diamond Road." Nick already had his cell out and was dialling Brass' number. "Alright sweetheart, we're going to get to you ok. Just keep talking to me hun." There was more static and a distinctive scream before the line went dead." Catherine stared at the phone, her face completely white, until Grissom's hand on her arm shook her out of her shock.

"Catherine, where's Sara? What happened?"

"She crashed, she's on Blue Diamond Road." Her voice was shaky and quiet, the words hitting home as she spoke them. Nick was relaying this to Brass while Catherine had regained control of her motor functions and was sprinting out of the room, knocking over a chair in the process, followed closely by Warrick.

She needed to find save her girl.

* * *

"What do you want Hodges?" Wendy asked exasperated as the trace tech hovered over her shoulder.

"Nothing. I was just going to say that there's better ways of doing that." Wendy was about to swing for him when Mandy appeared in the doorway.

"Hey Wendy, can I steal you from Hodges for a sec?"

"Gladly!" She exclaimed, jumping out of her seat.

Suddenly a crash from down the hall startled them and all three looked up in time to see Catherine legging it down the hall, Warrick hot on her heels and Nick, Greg and Grissom not far behind. The lab rats all exchanged puzzled glances before Hodges shrugged and sighed.

"Conrad always said that the graveyard CSIs were weird."

* * *

She couldn't hear Catherine's voice anymore. She couldn't hear anything except the sound of her own heart beating, echoing in her head. The car was trapped between the bank, the floor and what appeared to be some bushes. Against her will Sara's mind flashed back to her childhood. All of a sudden she was locked in the closet under the stairs, kicking, screaming, fighting for her every breath. She hated confined spaces, hated the darkness. She dropped the phone and struggled against her seatbelt, screaming. Her breath came in short gasps and she felt herself becoming light-headed.

She wasn't trapped anymore. She was floating. She felt light.

And yet everything had gone dark.

* * *

**Good or bad, let me know what you thought x**


	23. Rescue Mission

**Thank you for the reviews :) New chapter for your kind words xxx**

* * *

Sand filled the air like a whirlwind as half of the Las Vegas Police Department tore down Blue Diamond Road like a black and white striped convoy of flashing lights. The cars came to a screeching halt and many men and women in uniforms deserted their vehicles. The dark skid marks on the road led them to the broken barrier, pointing like an arrow to the upturned car at the bottom of the ditch.

The Denali drove through the maze of police cars and Catherine hit the ground running before it had even stopped. She raced to the edge of the road until Warrick caught up to her and held her back around her waist. She struggled and shouted Sara's name as he pulled her away from the edge so the search and rescue team could get down and begin cutting through the car. An ambulance screamed up and the paramedics leapt out.

The crunching of metal as the Jaws of Life cut Sara out of her metal cage made them all shudder. Nick, Warrick and Greg helped the paramedics unload their supplies and carry them down the bank to the mangled wreck of the car. While he had previously been too freaked out to move last time he was at an accident like this, Greg didn't hesitate to get stuck in and help his friend.

Catherine didn't even try to hold back her tears as she watched them carefully free Sara from the car and strap her to the stretcher. Nick and Warrick helped the EMTs carry the stretcher up the bank while Greg carried their cases behind them.

As soon as she laid eyes on the girl Catherine tried to go to her and despite Grissom and Brass' efforts to restrain her, broke free from their grip and sprinted over, immediately grasping Sara's hand.

"Sara, baby please wake up." She begged, staring at her pale, bloodied face for any signs of life. As Sara was slowly loaded into the back of the ambulance, Nick held Catherine back but again she pulled away and followed the EMTs in, announcing that she was going with them.

The last thing the guys saw was Catherine placing a tender kiss on Sara's knuckles as she gripped her hand tightly, her eyes never leaving Sara's face.

* * *

As the ambulance disappeared in a cloud of dust and the wail of sirens faded into the wind the guys just stood, lost. Seeing that the youngest man had tears in his eyes, Nick patted Greg's shoulder supportively, before making his was slowly over the roadside where Warrick was staring blankly at the mangled heap of metal.

"Why Sara?" was all he could say. Nick sighed, unable to answer.

As a few of the police cars began to trickle away another car pulled up and Conrad Ecklie clambered out, striding over to Grissom and the guys with a sympathetic look on his face.

"Gil, I'm so sorry." He patted the man's shoulder in a surprising act of kindness. "Is she going to be ok?" He sounded genuinely concerned. Grissom couldn't form the words to answer so just shrugged and shook his head sadly. "I'm going to get all my best guys from Days and Swing on this case I promise." Ecklie continued.

"No." Grissom barked, regaining his voice. His normally light blue eyes darkened as his fixed Conrad with a hard look. "We want this case."

* * *

Catherine didn't remember the ride to the hospital, or the paramedics hooking Sara up to machines. All she remembered was Sara's pale face and the angry cut on her forehead. She dare not take her eyes off of her, as if just the simple act of watching her was keeping her alive. So, when the paramedics tried to push her away to get her into hospital she fought against them and tried desperately to keep up as they wheeled her down the corridor. As soon as her girl was taken away from her into the ER she broke down in tears, collapsing against the floor.

And that's where Nancy found her, on the floor leaning against the cold hard wall crying her heart out.

"Cathy? What's happened? Is it Lindsey?" She held her sister's shoulders, trying to get her calm down long enough to tell her.

"Sara." it was the only word she could say before breaking down again, falling into Nancy's arms, sobbing against her chest. Nancy held her tightly, rubbing her back soothingly until she calmed down a little. "She was in a car accident. She's really hurt Nance." She sniffled, trying not to break down again.

"I'll see what I can find out, ok? Stay here." Nancy disappeared into the ER and as she did another doctor came out and went to the desk nearby. Catherine stood up and ran over to him.

"How's Sara?" No time for pleasantries. "She was brought in after a car crash, is she ok?" The doctor tried to ignore her but she stepped in his way so he had to look at her. "Please, I need to know." she begged.

"I'm sorry I really can't say." He moved around her but she didn't give up.

"Please, tell me she's going to be ok."

"I'm sorry, we can only give details to family." he carried on back to the ER ignoring Catherine as she called after him.

"But she's my girlfriend!" She yelled, incensed.

"Cath?" She spun around, coming face to face with the rest of the night shift.


	24. Rules were meant to be broken

She locked eyes with the team for a moment, then walked around them and threw herself into a chair opposite the desk. Brass, seemingly unfazed by her little outburst, sat next to her and placed a friendly hand on her thigh. Slowly, one by one, the team all sat down and silently prayed for their girl.

Their quiet contemplation was interrupted when Nancy emerged from the room. Catherine was on her feet in a flash. "How is she?" She asked hurriedly, shuffling from one foot to another nervously. Nancy held her hands up to calm her.

"She's in surgery at the moment, there is some internal bleeding and she's a got a few broken ribs…she's not out of the woods yet but she should be ok." Everyone released the breath they didn't realise they had been holding. "Look, I've got to get back to work but if I find out anything you'll be the first to know."

"Thank you Nance." Catherine breathed, running a hand through her hair. As her sister departed she slowly turned back to her team. Warrick and Nick were sharing a male, one-armed hug while Brass was patting Greg's shoulder and Grissom was rubbing his face tiredly.

"I'll give Sofia a call, she's still at the scene but she wanted me to let her know as soon as there was any news." Brass announced, before leaving to call the blonde detective. Grissom looked up and caught Catherine's eye, holding her gaze for a moment before turning away. Catherine had known him long enough to know his body language by now. "If there's something you want to say then say it." He lifted his head slowly, fixing her with a hard glare.

"Although every man believes that his decisions and resolutions involve the most multifarious factors, in reality they are mere oscillation between flight and longing."

Cath raised an eyebrow. "My girlfriend's in surgery and you're quoting …"

"Herman Broch. Catherine, I'm sure you think that you've thought this through but do you really think that now is the time to start some fling with Sara?"

"Fling?" She asked incredulous.

"Sara's _girlfriend,_" he seemed to struggle with the word, "tried to kill her Catherine, and you think that this is a good time to give in to lust, to start…whatever this is between you. You're breaking all the rules here Catherine." The blonde took a deep breath before answering.

"I am aware of what she's been through Gil and I know that she needs time to deal with it, but this is what we want. And its not like we're rushing anything." She paused for a moment before continuing. "And this is more than lust. I … I really like her." Cath caught herself before she nearly said something that she wasn't sure she was ready to admit yet. Her feelings for Sara were confusing, and they were stronger than anything she had felt before, but that didn't mean it was…

No. She wouldn't think it, not yet. It was all too soon for that yet.

* * *

It was several hours later when Nancy returned to the group. Catherine was asleep with her head on Warrick's lap; Nick and Greg had fallen asleep too and were resting against each other comfortably. Grissom was staring blankly at the wall and Brass had gone to check in with Sofia and find out what she knew about the accident.

The boys were the first to wake up, and Warrick nudged Catherine when Nancy arrived. She sat up slowly, adjusting to her surroundings, but practically leapt out of her seat when she remembered why she was here.

"Is she ok? Can I see her? Please tell me she's going to be alright?" Nancy's lips twitched into a smile at the barrage of questions.

"Yes she's ok and yes you can see her, but only for a few minutes. She's not awake yet though." The boys shared relieved smiles and more male one-armed half-hugs while Catherine followed her little sister down the hall to a private room where Sara had been moved to. "Don't be put out by the machines, most are just monitoring. She's going to be ok Cath, she's a tough girl." Nancy smiled reassuringly before departing. Cath took a deep breath before she entered, psyching herself up for seeing Sara like this. Again.

The room was quiet, too quiet. All she could here was the regular beeping of the heart monitor and Sara's rhythmic breathing. Catherine carefully took her hand and kissed the knuckles softly.

"Hey baby." She whispered. Though she remained asleep and motionless, Sara's slender fingers tightened around Catherine's hand, almost as if to signal that she was ok. Careful not to move any wires or tubes, Cath situated herself on the bed, leaning back with one arm stretched across the pillow and the other gently resting on Sara's chest, rising and falling with her breathing.

The silence was suffocating, so Catherine began to talk. About Lindsey, work, dancing. Anything.

* * *

Nancy had bent a few rules to let Catherine see Sara but she felt that her sister needed to see for herself that the young brunette was ok. Though she had been unsure of the relationship, and still was to an extent, she did not doubt Catherine's feelings for a second.

When she went back to collect her she couldn't help but smile. Catherine was laid fast asleep next to Sara, one arm across the pillow, the other resting protectively over Sara's heart.

Without waking her she slipped back out of the room quietly. What was a few more broken rules anyway.


	25. Words and Silence

Catherine blinked. This wasn't her bed. In fact, this wasn't her room. And she wasn't alone. She shuffled slightly in an attempt to free her left arm, which was pinned down, but in doing so she disturbed the person sleeping next to her. The person in question grumbled and snuggled closer, nestling her head into Catherine's shoulder. Cath smiled. Sara. Without waking her companion she readjusted her position so that she was leaning back against the pillow with Sara curled up almost in her lap, her head resting comfortably in the crook of Cath's neck. Catherine ran her left hand slowly through Sara's curly hair, while tenderly stroking her stomach and side with her other hand. She couldn't tell you how long she sat doing this, staring at Sara's sleeping face. She looked so peaceful when she slept. And despite the cuts and scratches littering her beautiful face, she looked perfect.

It could have been ten minutes or ten hours, but sometime later Catherine managed to pull her eyes from Sara to see who had just entered the room, only to find her little sister grinning smugly at her from the doorway.

"Three times I've walked past here and you haven't taken your eyes off of her once. She's not going anywhere you know." Nancy chuckled. Catherine just smiled lazily.

"Yeah well with this one I'm not taking the chance." She replied, returning her eyes to Sara and brushing a stray brunette curl from her face. Nancy began checking Sara's vitals, all the time observing Catherine.

"You really like her don't you," she said quietly. Catherine bit her lip shyly and nodded.

"More than I first thought. Nance, what happened today…I was really scared. I thought I was going to lose her, and I don't know if I could cope with that. I need her." Her blue eyes drifted back down of their own accord, only to be met with sleepy brown ones blinking up at her. "Hey, how're you feeling?" She asked softly, stroking Sara's cheek gently. Sara shrugged and smiled so Cath took that to mean that she was ok. Nancy finished what she was doing and touched Sara's shoulder briefly before slipping out quietly, shooting her sister a sly smile on the way. Never had she seen Catherine so smitten!

Once they were alone Sara repositioned her self so that she could look into Catherine's eyes while still lying in the blonde's arms.

"The crash. What happened?" Her voice was weak and tired.

"I was kinda hoping that you could tell me that actually. All we know so far is that there was nothing on the road that caused the accident. Sofia's still investigating." That thought comforted Sara. She and Sofia had had their moments and she had felt insecure around the blonde CSI – detective because she felt like Sofia could read her a little too well, but she would never doubt Sofia's skills both in science and law enforcement. "You want to fill me in on the rest?" Cath continued.

"There was a car, it was kinda all over the place so I swerved to avoid it and … I don't know what happened I just lost control of the wheel." She paused. "It was your car."

"Yeah, Brass said. Last time you'll borrow it, little miss." She grinned to show that she was joking but Sara didn't seem to have heard her anyway.

"Steph just checked it, it should have been fine." Catherine nodded slowly, understanding where she was going with this. If there was nothing wrong with the road, or the car and Sara didn't do anything to cause the crash…what did? One thought crept into her mind against her will and Sara seemed to know the instant that it did. "No. Steph's a great mechanic, she would never let anything like this happen."

"Ok, I'm sure Sofia's findings will support that. And either way it's nothing for you to worry about, whatever happened the guys will find out." They both knew that Sara would worry about it so instead of answering, Sara changed the subject.

"So you need me huh?" Catherine laughed.

"Damn right, so stay on the road next time, k?" She stroked Sara's cheek again. "How much did you hear?" she asked softly.

"Enough." She answered coyly. Cath laughed and bent down to kiss her, their lips meeting softly, gently and their tongues just beginning to explore when the door opened.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." They pulled apart and looked at Sofia, whose cheeks were turning a nice shade of pink. "I just wanted to see how you were, but I can see that you're ok."

"Yeah, thank you." Sara smiled. "Do you know what happened yet?" she had to ask.

"Nick and I examined the car, we're still looking into it but there was a fault with the steering that most likely caused the crash."

"But that car was just serviced, I picked it up from the garage less than an hour before…"

"We know. We're bringing in the mechanic who worked on it, find out what they've got to say for themselves." Sofia said proudly, and she was surprised by Sara's reaction.

"No! This can't be Steph's fault, she wouldn't make a mistake like that."

"Sara, honey calm down." Catherine held her close, stopping her from pulling out her IV with her sudden movement.

"No, there must be another explanation, it can't have been Steph's fault." There were tears in her eyes.

"We don't know anything for sure yet. I'm sorry Sara. I hope you feel better." Sofia offered remorsefully. She left as quietly as she had arrived, leaving Catherine to comfort the distraught Sara.

* * *

"For the last time, I don't know what could have happened. I checked the steering, I checked everything, I even took it out for a test drive and it was fine, there was nothing wrong with it." Steph said for the hundreth time that day. Her friend was lying in a hospital bed - again - and these people were insisting it was her fault.

"So you can say with absolute certainty that you double checked the steering and you tightened it up." Brass asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." She answered again.

"You couldn't have forgotten, maybe gotten distracted." Steph paused. Charlie. Libby usually looked after him but she'd been busy that day so Steph had had him at the garage with her, he'd been a little monkey all day. He could have distracted her, maybe she didn't quite finish tightening the steeing again. Brass obviosly noticed her pause. "If there's a chance you forgot, we need to know."

"My son. He was with me at the garage."

"Do you always bring him?"

"No, it was a one off. But even still, I'm sure I checked it, I always double check."

"Can you say, with absolute certainty that you checked Catherine Willows' car?" Steph didn't answer. But her silence spoke volumes.

* * *

**:( Poor Steph. Reviews make me update faster xxx Oh and btw, I don't know cars so sorry for being vague but i have no idea what I'm actually writing about!**


	26. Grease Monkeys

**Lots of Neighbours characters and story plots in this chap but hope you like it anyways. The net is losing in on Lydia soon i promise. Enjoy x**

* * *

Steph arrived home from the police station to find her living room full of people. Libby, Dan, Lucas and Toadie to be precise. Libby went to give her a hug but she pulled away. "No, I nearly killed Sara, I don't deserve sympathy." Toadie, the lawyer, stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, nothing's known for certain yet. And I'm going to do everything I can to help you ok?"

"You should be helping Sara. Does anyone know how she is?" No one at the police station would tell her.

"Yeah, I called the hospital, they said she's going to be fine. And she wouldn't blame you for this, you know Sara. She knows that you're a great mechanic." Dan answered. Steph nodded, then threw herself ungracefully onto the couch, running a hand through her unruly blonde waves.

"I just don't know what happened. I know Charlie was being a bit distracting but not so bad that I'd…I just don't know how I let it happen." Toadie thought carefully about it. He'd known Steph a long time and would trust her with his life. And with Sara's.

"Steph, in all the years you've been a mechanic, how many steering nuts have you forgotten to tighten?" She thought about it.

"This would be the first."

* * *

The group had migrated to the garage and were stood in a circle around an oil splodge.

"Okay, just talk us through what you did to the car."

"Well, I checked the oil, I …this is too hard without having it in front of me." She struggled.

"Where were you when you were doing to steering?" Libby asked.

"On the floor, under the car." The gang all looked at each other and back to Steph.

"Well, get on the floor." Libby said. Steph looked at them incredulous for a moment before sighing and lying on her back on the cold, hard, oil-stained garage floor. She pictured the underside of a car before her eyes and lifted her arm, as if checking the steering. Closing her eyes she tried to remember what she did.

_That song. Charlie had been playing his CD all morning and it was driving her mad. And if she had to listen to 'the wheels on the bus' one more time she would go insane. She could hear it playing in her head as she remembered. _

_The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round…_

"Yes! I did. I definitely tightened the steering nut!" Steph leapt up excitedly.

"You're sure." Toadie asked.

"Absolutely 100%. I don't know how that nut got loose but it wasn't because of me."

"Okay, so how than?" Libby wrapped an arm around Steph, who was practically shaking. Lucas spoke up.

"Maybe someone tampered with it? Where did you leave the car after you serviced it?"

"Inside where I always leave it." She paused. "But, after the test drive I parked it outside. Someone could have gotten to it."

"Lydia?" Libby suggested, since it was the name on everyone's mind.

"No, they're still investigating her, she should still be locked up." Toadie said. "Anyway, that doesn't matter right now, we gotta go down to the police and tell them that you definitely tightened the steering nut."

"Will they believe me?"

"Maybe not but it's worth a shot." Toadie, Steph, Libby and Lucas made their way to the car they'd abandoned on the forecourt earlier. Dan however didn't move, his eye was on Grease Monkeys – the diner across the street.

"Dan?" Libby called him.

"Yeah, sorry I was just thinking." He followed slowly, his mind still hovering on that nagging thought.

* * *

Steph had gotten the distinctive feeling that the police did not believe her, but having Toadie by her side, as both a lawyer and a friend, had given her some comfort.

However that had not helped her once she left the room and saw the one person she did not really want to face right now.

Catherine had left Sara's side long enough to come to the station and give her statement. Sofia had already taken Sara's at the hospital when Sara had calmed down enough to talk. When Cath left Sara was asleep under the watchful gaze of Nick Stokes.

As soon as she left Jim's office she saw Steph Scully leave one of the interrogation rooms and hug Jarrod Rebecchi – Toadie. She saw red.

"What the hell are you doing here? What did you do to her?!" Before someone could restrain her she had marched up to Steph and slapped her hard across the face. "You nearly killed her!" Toadie pulled Steph away, protecting her from the irate woman. He had had some dealings with Ms Willows in a professional capacity and knew that she was a hard woman. Jim and Sofia both held Catherine back.

"Catherine, we don't know anything yet, the investigation isn't finished." Brass tried to explain, to no avail.

"I'm sorry." Steph babbled, her earlier confidence fading. "I'm so sorry."

"You stay away from her!" Catherine ordered as she was dragged down the corridor. Brass managed to turn her around to walk her forward, but the mechanic behind her was soon forgotten when she saw who was in front of her. "Nick? Where's Sara? What happened?" The Texan was stood watching the commotion next to the guy Catherine had talked to, Sara's councillor friend – David? No… Daniel!

"She's ok Cath relax. She's asleep, Greggo's with her." He waved the videotape he was holding in the air. "And I've got something you'll want to see."


	27. Ask the man in the greasy apron

Brass, Catherine and Nick had transferred to Brass' office where they were avidly hovering around a small TV borrowed from the staff room. Toadie was straining to see over Cath's shoulder while Steph paced nervously and Dan observed the scene. They probably would have realised how funny it looked with them all crushed into the small office, if they weren't so engrossed in the video.

The image was grainy but clear enough to se the front of Carpenter's Garage.

"I managed to sweet talk to owner of Grease Monkey's Diner to give me the CCTV footage from their security camera outside." Dan explained.

"This is from the day Stephanie fixed the car." Nick added.

A few minutes in you can see Catherine's car pull in to the forecourt and Steph climb out.

"Right, that must be you bringing the car back from the test drive." Nick said, glancing at Steph who nodded, even though she couldn't see the screen. They continued to watch and less than three minutes later, when Steph was out of sight, they saw a figure run onto the forecourt and pick up a wrench before clambering under the car, where they stayed for a few minutes, then climbed back out and ran out of shot of the camera.

Trespass, sabotage and attempted murder all in five minutes.

"I have Archie working on it to try and get a clear image of their face but judging by the height and build it could be Lydia." Nick speculated. Steph stopped pacing suddenly and turned to them with a confused face, glancing at Toadie and Dan who wore matching expressions.

"I thought Lydia's still locked up." She questioned.

"No, we had to let her go. There wasn't enough evidence." Catherine explained quietly, looking at Steph for the first time since she slapped her. Without saying a word she gave the other blonde an apologetic look, which Steph accepted with an imperceptible nod.

"So, Sara's lying in a hospital bed and that…that woman is out there wandering around freely!" Toadie shouted.

"Easy Toad." Dan warned. "But this is enough right? I mean there's no way she can dodge this?" He wanted to make sure she was gone for good this time.

"Well, we still need confirmation that it is her,"

"Oh, it will be!" Toadie fumed.

"But if it is," Nick continued, ignoring the interruption, "and the examination of the tools and the car corroborate it, then yes this should be enough to get her for aggravated assault and attempted murder." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the thought.

Now they just needed the proof.

* * *

After a page from Nick, Warrick had hopped into his car and sped to the garage, where he met up with Steph and Toadie, fresh out of the police station.

"Hey, I was told there was a wrench used by the suspect, do you know which it might be?" He asked, looking aimlessly around at the many scattered tools. Steph was a good mechanic, but she was a little messy. She shrugged helplessly.

"Take your pick. This toolbox was left on the forecourt on the day…" she swallowed hard, "it was probably one of them but stuff gets moved around here all the time." Warrick nodded his thanks and gathered all the wrenches he could find into separate bags and labelled them up. When he was finished he thanked them again and packed his new evidence into his car, but he had one last thing to do before he left. He pulled out the plastic wallet with the piece of paper carefully slotted into it, and made his way across the road to Grease Monkeys. It was a small diner, barely big enough for half a dozen tables inside and a couple more outside. It reminded him of a little burger joint where him and Nick went sometimes mid shift to grab a bite to eat. A middle-aged guy wearing a worn leather jacket and ripped jeans emerged and started clearing tables.

"Hey," Warrick got his attention. "I'm Warrick Brown with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I was wondering if you could help me."

"You here about that Sara chick?" he asked, a distinctive southern twang to his voice.

"Yeah, what can you tell me about that?" Warrick was interested.

"She's always helping out Steph at the garage, heard she was in an accident. She ok?"

"Yeah she'll be fine. What do you know about the accident?" Maybe this trip would be worthwhile.

"Know that it wasn't Steph's fault. She fixes my car for free in exchange for free breakfast and if you saw my car you'd know that was fair deal. She's been keeping that old banger on the road for years and she's never put a foot wrong." Seeing that this wasn't helping the investigation much Warrick got onto the topic he'd come here for. He held up the piece of paper.

"Have you ever seen this woman before?"

"Yeah, yeah she was here the other day. Thursday I think." The day of the accident. Now we're getting somewhere, Warrick thought. "She came in about quarter to 11, bought a sandwich, then sat in that bus shelter," he pointed to the bench sheltered by a flimsy plastic wall and roof, situated a few feet down the road from Grease Monkeys. If you didn't know it was there you would never notice it. "Stayed there all day. Mustn't have known that buses don't run past here often." Warrick hid a smile.

"Really, all day? Do you happen to know when she left?"

"Nope, sorry. Saw that Sara come by about three, she was still there then. Next time I looked she was gone, so it was after three. That's all I can tell you."

"Thank you, you've been a big help. Listen could I take your name and number just in case I have anymore questions." The man, Gus, scribbled his name and number on an old receipt he pulled from the depths of his filthy apron and handed it to Warrick. God help him of health and hygiene ever came by, but in spite of his dodgy food hygiene regulations Gus had been very helpful.

And Lydia was going down for this.

Before he left Warrick called him back. "Yo Gus, I'll take one of those breakfast burgers to go."

* * *

**I had to have Warrick say 'Yo' somewhere. Hope you liked, let me know what you think.**


	28. Interrogation

**Long chapter since i haven't updated in a while. Things will look up for Sara soon, and there will be trial, so stay tuned :)**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It could have been the sirens, or the hoard of black and white cars steaming down her road. Or perhaps it could have just been an ominous feeling in the air. But one way or another, Lydia knew they were coming for her.

As the police rolled up outside her apartment and Jim Brass stormed up the stairs to flat number 32, Lydia was panicking on the other side of the door.

"Lydia Hart. Las Vegas PD, open up!" Brass ordered. He waited a few seconds before nodding at the officers holding the police battering ram. They charged forward and crashed through the door, sending splinters flying. Police filed into the small home and scattered like ants, searching every tiny room for the blonde.

"She's not here Jim." One officer said. Brass noticed the open window semi-covered by half closed curtains.

"She won't get far."

And he was right.

* * *

"I told you that you wouldn't get away with messing with our girl!" Sofia growled, pinning the smaller woman against a fence barely a minute after she had evacuated the apartment through the window. "Dispatch, Suspect is in custody. Repeat, Lydia Hart is in custody." She announced into her radio, in-between deep breaths. She had to hand it to her, Lydia may be small but she was feisty.

* * *

Last time she was in this interrogation room she had not stopped talking, but this time it seemed she had very little to say.

"You know it doesn't look good when you run." Brass said, walking slowly around the table where the woman sat motionless and mute. "Not that I blame you, I mean you tried to kill a criminalist, twice! I wouldn't stick around for the repercussions either." No answer. "Gus say's hi by the way." She frowned but still didn't speak. "You remember Gus right, you bought a sandwich from him, right before you unscrewed the steering nut on Catherine's car. Right before Sara crashed." He paused for a second, "she's fine by the way." The mention of Sara's name seemed to stir something within her. Her eyes, previously blank and cold, lit up, as if a flame had been ignited behind them. Jim wasn't sure what it meant, but clearly he had found his way in. "Catherine's taking good care of her." Lydia's head whipped around to look at him with shock written on her face. Bingo! "What? You didn't know they were together?" Brass had found his way to get under her skin, but she was a tough nut to crack and quickly recovered her stoic expression. He tried again. "Why did you tamper with Catherine's car?"

"I didn't." Brass had heard that before. Rapidly losing patience, he Brass slammed his hand down on the table in front of her.

"We've got you on camera."

* * *

"It's not enough. Grissom said softly, shaking his head. "Archie still trying to get a clear enough image to conclusively prove that it was her. Without that it won't be enough."

"Mandy's running prints from the wrenches and the steering nut. Nick's heading there now." Catherine murmured, not taking her eyes off of the evil woman in front of her. Lydia was sat stoic, staring straight ahead. Even though she knew Lydia couldn't see her, Catherine felt like the cold grey eyes on the other side of the glass were piercing into her. Mirrored glass or not, Lydia knew that Catherine was there.

* * *

"If there was anything on that video that you could use to identify me then why don't you charge me?" Lydia spat angrily, her eyes trained on the mirrored glass.

"Oh don't tempt me." If Jim didn't know better he'd swear she knew Cath was watching every minute of this. It was a staring match between two people in separate rooms. A staring match that she lost when she finally broke her gaze to look at the door as Nick Stokes rapped on the glass. The Texan strode in and sat down at the table directly in front of Lydia. He carefully placed the folder he was carrying down on the table and took a long sip of the glass of water next to him. Finally, he spoke, in a languid, casual manner.

"You know, it's amazing what you can do with a little oil and a little dust, and the right surface." He waved his arm lazily. "Paper, metal, plastic…" finally he fixed his eyes onto Lydia's, "…steering nuts." He pulled out a piece of paper from the folder and set it carefully in front of Lydia. It was a photo of the steering nut from under Catherine's car. "You see this…this is a steering nut, and this black spot right here, that's where my magic dust comes in." Lydia gulped, her eyes flicking from the picture to Nick's face to the window and back again. "It showed me this fingerprint." He pulled out another piece of paper, this time with a picture of the print compared to Lydia's ten card. "This shows me that that fingerprint is yours." Finally, he pulled out a final piece of paper; a blurred still frame from the surveillance video showing a clear enough picture of Lydia walking away from the car. "And this shows me that you were in the vicinity of Carpenter's garage at the time the car was tampered with." He paused, waiting for Lydia to meet his gaze. "You tampered with the car." Lydia dropped her head.

"You tried to kill Sara." Brass added.

"NO." She looked up again, this time with tears in her eyes. "No, I would never hurt Sara! I love her, I wouldn't…"

"You tampered with the car, you caused the accident."

"No, Sara wasn't meant to get hurt. It wasn't her car!" Everyone fell silent as the words sank in. They had been so wrapped up in trying to catch her that they hadn't considered the thought that Lydia wasn't to know that Sara was picking up the car. At least the boys hadn't.

Catherine had.

* * *

"You knew." Grissom stated, turning to Cath, who merely nodded.

"In her twisted head I'm the threat. I'm the one who's trying to hurt Sara and by getting rid of me she feels she can protect her. She knew that Sara was going to leave her, so she slit her wrists so Sara would need her around. That didn't work, and in her eyes it didn't work because of me. I'm the bad guy." Catherine explained, running a hand through her hair.

"What Lydia doesn't realise is that her actions, aimed to keep you away have only served to bring you closer. _What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise_." Cath looked at Grissom, surprised. In his own way, he had just given them his blessing. A smile gracing her lips she turned back to the window and answered his unasked question.

"Oscar Wilde."

* * *

"You were trying to hurt Catherine." Nick realised out loud.

"I just needed to keep her away from Sara. It wasn't enough." Lydia said despondently.

"It's enough for me. Lydia Hart, you are under arrest for aggravated assault and the attempted murder of Sara Sidle. And believe me, there is not a jury in the world that will get you off!" Brass said as a police officer led her away.

* * *

**Please review, they make me smile :)**


	29. Cute

**Back again! Hope you enjoy :) And please review xxx**

* * *

Catherine snuck into the hospital room and smiled when she saw her girl sleeping soundly. Trying not to make a noise, she sat carefully on the edge of the bed and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. However the action must have disturbed Sara because her eyes opened and blinked a few times to adjust to the lights.

"Hey baby." Catherine whispered. It felt strange to her that using pet names on Sara didn't feel …strange. Was that strange?

"Hey. What time is it?" Sara asked in a sleepy voice.

"Late. Or early, depends on how you want to look at it." Cath chuckled. Sara shuffled until she was sat more upright.

"How did you get in?" Catherine flashed her that killer grin and held up her CSI ID card proudly.

"It's amazing what you can do with one of these." Sara laughed and slapped Cath's leg playfully.

"That is abuse of power." Catherine shrugged.

"Yeah well, what does it matter? We're going to hell in a hand basket anyway." She joked, leaning in for a sweet kiss. The blonde nipped at Sara's bottom lip, seeking entrance, which was duly granted, and she felt Sara's velvet tongue exploring softly. They battled for a moment until Catherine slowly withdrew. "Hey, before we get into that, there is something I want to tell you."

"Mhmm?" Sara raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Lydia's been charged with causing the accident." It felt good to say it out loud.

"Lydia? Why? I thought she was in prison" Sara was confused. The older woman stroked her hair tenderly.

"No, they had to let her go, not enough evidence. I wanted to let you recover a bit before I told you; I never thought she'd try something like this. I'm sorry, I know I should have told you." she was scared that Sara might be mad but instead the brunette just looked…lost.

"Why would she?"

"She wasn't trying to hurt you, she was going after me." That didn't seem to help Sara any. Catherine took the younger woman's face in her hands and gently stroked her cheeks with the pad of her thumbs. "Hey, she's not going to hurt anyone again. I promise." She leant forward and pressed a quick peck on Sara's lips. The young CSI took a minute to absorb all this information before changing positions and shuffling closer to Cath. The blonde changed positions so that she could hold Sara and they sat like that for a while, until Catherine got up the courage to do what she had wanted to. "Hey Sar? I know that you've got a lot to deal with at the moment, and that this might be a bit presumptuous but…would you like to spend Christmas with us?" Sara looked at her a bit shocked. She opened her mouth to speak but didn't get chance before Cath started babbling nervously. "You could stay in the guest room, I mean if you want to you don't have to, I just don't want you to feel like I'm rushing you, you know we can go as slowly as you want…"

"Cat! I'd love to spend Christmas with you." Sara interrupted, trying not to laugh. Catherine's rambling turned into a big smile and she breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't realise she had been holding in.

"Really?" she breathed. She nuzzled the top of Sara's head and placed a kiss into her hair.

"Do you always babble when you're nervous?" Sara asked, resting her head into the crook of Catherine's neck.

"I do not babble." Cath insisted indignantly.

"Yes you do."

"I do not!" Sara had to laugh at the offended expression of bemusement on Cath's face. She peppered kisses onto the blonde's neck.

"It's cute." The expression disappeared and was replaced by a content smile.

"You're cute." She whispered back.


	30. Tinkerbelles and Christmas Trees

**Hey Hey! A new chapter, and this one is pure fluff, as will the next one be. Hope you like, and drop a review if you're passing by :) x**

* * *

The next day Catherine picked Sara up and they swung by the brunette's apartment to pick up a few things before heading to Catherine's house. They figured that this would work best for everyone: Sara needed help until her broken ribs healed and it was only three weeks until Christmas and Catherine had yet to even find her tree, let alone put it up. Of course, that was not the only reason Cath had invited Sara to stay.

What? Even Catherine Willows was allowed ulterior motives.

* * *

As soon as they arrived home Sara was ambushed by a tiny blonde tornado. Sara bit her tongue to avoid wincing as Lindsey threw her small arms around Sara's waist.

"Hi Sara, mommy said you were going to stay with us at Christmas, you can stay in my room if you like. And you can help us to decorate the Christmas tree! And…"

"Lindsey, remember what I said?" Catherine's warning voice sounded from behind them and the little girl immediately let go, stepping back with a sheepish face.

"Be careful not to hurt Sara," she narrated dutifully. "Sorry Sara." She mumbled. Sara grinned and ruffled her hair.

"S'ok kiddo, I'd love to help with the tree."

"Yey!" Lindsey squealed and ran off happily. Catherine leant in to whisper huskily in Sara's ear, the close contact making Sara's skin tingle.

"I think she likes you." Sara laughed. "Come on, lets get out of the doorway." They picked up the bags that had been abandoned at their feet when Lindsey arrived and made their way to the living room. Once the bags were out of the way for the time being and Sara was sat on the couch Catherine placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "Coffee?" She asked. It had been a long few days for them all and Sara had not had access to a coffee machine so Cath, correctly, assumed the brunette would probably appreciate the caffeine boost.

"Yeah please. Would you like a hand?" Sara was about to get up but Cath held her back down with a hand on her shoulder.

"No, its ok. You're here to rest." She pecked Sara on the cheek and headed into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

* * *

Just as she turned around to get the cups from the cupboard she nearly jumped out of her skin to see Sara stood behind her, looking absent-mindedly around the room for the cups herself. "I thought I told you to stay put." Catherine breathed. Sara just smiled and shrugged.

"I wanted to help. Mugs?" Cath pointed vaguely in the direction of the cupboard, shaking her head at Sara's strange logic.

"You will never recover if you don't take it easy madam." Cath chastised gently, taking the mugs from her and pouring the coffee into them before handing one back. Sara just smiled lazily, not bothering to reply. Catherine shook her head and couldn't help but chuckle at Sara's antics. If this was what it was like to take care of Sara Sidle then God help her. Giving up, the blonde sat down at the kitchen table opposite her and reached out to place her hand over Sara's. "So, since Grissom had kindly given me a couple of nights off to look after you, I was thinking we could put the decorations up tomorrow night. That way you can just relax tonight. Maybe we could get takeout and watch a movie."

"Sure, that sounds great." Sara smiled sweetly, looking straight at her. They descended into a comfortable silence, just quietly staring at each other across the table.

Catherine swore if she didn't look away from Sara's deep, soulful hazel brown eyes soon then she would surely find herself sinking into them until she got lost in them forever. However she could not look away.

"Mommy!" The loud voice from the little person startled them both and they tore their gaze away from each other long enough to see Lindsey barge into the kitchen wearing a pretty green dress and holding her fairy wings.

"What's wrong honey?" Catherine asked, eyeing up her outfit.

"I can't put my wings on." She looked up at her mother with wide blue eyes. Catherine took the wings and gently turned her around to clip them to the outfit.

"Lindsey why are you in your fairy costume?" She had to ask.

"Because I wanted to show it to Sara. You said I could" With her wings now attached her voice was cheerful and the smile was back on her face again.

"Did I?" Cath asked rhetorically. She loved Lindsey more than the world but sometimes she couldn't quite keep up with her babbling. But Lindsey wasn't listening anyway; her attention was focussed on Sara now as she showed her the details of her sparkly green fancy-dress costume.

"Wow, it's very pretty." Sara said, as Lindsey hopped from one foot to the other excitedly. "Well little miss Tinkerbelle, since a little fairy told me we might be getting takeout tonight…" her eyes turned to look at Catherine, a cheeky grin on her face, "…why don't we go choose a movie to watch?" Lindsey squealed again, and held her arms out to Sara, an indication that she wanted to be picked up. Cath was about to tell her no, but before she could Sara had stood up and swung the tiny child onto her hip with barely a wince. Lindsey laughed and clung onto her mother's girlfriend happily.

* * *

Cath put the mugs back in the dink and followed them through, hovering in the doorway to observe them unnoticed. Sara was sat crossed legged on the floor; Lindsey sat in her lap holding two films in her small hands.

"Peter Pan's my favourite, but I like the Little Mermaid too. I like flouder … Flounder. And Seb-ast-ian" She pronounced slowly too avoid getting tongue-tied. A thoughtful look crossed her face as she studied the two DVDs carefully, before finally deciding and holding up the winner. "Peter Pan." Cath chuckled. It would be.

Sara seemed to notice Cath for the first time and grinned up at her. The older woman smiled back down contentedly as she watched the two girls. Her two girls.


	31. The Waiting

By the end of the movie Lindsey was fast asleep, curled up comfortably between the two women. Sara went to lift her up but Catherine stopped her.

"No, it's ok. Spare your ribs honey." She scooped her daughter up into her arms and carried her upstairs while Sara cleared up the debris of their movie and pizza night. A few minutes later Catherine reappeared downstairs. "Hey, you didn't have to do that." She said softly when she found Sara washing up.

"It's ok. I'm not an invalid you know, I can help out." Sara smiled. They finished tidying up and collapsed back onto the couch side by side. They lapsed into silence.

"So…" Cath started nervously. "We should probably get some sleep. You look exhausted." She stated softly. Sara agreed but neither one made any effort to move. "It's up to you where you sleep, the guest room is set up if you want it, or…" she trailed off, trying to think of a way to phrase the rest without scaring Sara off. However she didn't need to finish because Sara spoke up.

"Cath I want you to know, I really appreciate this. No one has ever been this good to me before." The young woman admitted quietly. Cath carefully lifted her face to look into her eyes and slowly captured Sara's soft lips with her own in a sensual kiss. What started as a slow, tender kiss soon turned into a passionate clinch as the new lovers stumbled their way up the stairs and into Catherine's bedroom, eventually collapsing onto the bed. Sara unbuttoned Catherine's blouse, their lips never separating. In a passion-filled frenzy of hands and fingers they undressed each other down to their underwear. Sara moved her mouth down to attack Catherine's neck with her lips and tongue. She gasped as Sara's teeth nipped at the skin at the top of her breast. The older woman had never felt such intense feelings of need as she did right now, however something out of the corned of her eye put a sudden stop to the burning sensation in her stomach. _Scars._

Gently placing her hands on Sara's shoulders she pushed the brunette away.

"No, sweetie stop." Sara immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at Catherine curiously. Cath propped herself up on her elbow and stroked Sara's cheek with the back of her hand. "Hon we can't do this now. It's not right."  
"It felt right." Sara said, furrowing her brow.

"That's not what I meant." Cath chuckled. "You need to recover, not just physically but emotionally." Sara frowned, not following so Cath took her hands and used her thumbs to gently caress the scars on her thin wrists. "Honey you've been through hell recently. I want us to take this slowly, to do it right. Sara I have messed up so many relationships because I took things too fast physically and screwed up the emotional side. I don't want that to happen to us. And when we do take this further, I want it to be special." She placed a butterfly kiss on Sara's lips. "I want this relationship to work." Sara nodded in understanding and suddenly seemed to become aware of her state of undress.

"I should probably…" she stood up and gestured to the door, a blush creeping into her cheeks. Cath grabbed her hands to stop her from leaving.

"You don't have to. Stay, please?" The blonde smiled sweetly and Sara nodded, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. Satisfied that that was settled Cath delicately removed the last of both hers and Sara's clothes. She climbed under the blanket and took Sara in her arms, pulling her girlfriend down with her, until the two of them were comfortably nestled in each other's arms, their naked legs entangled together. It was not long before she felt Sara's breathing even out as she drifted off to sleep. Catherine placed a soft kiss on Sara's lips and snuggled closer, whispering a final message into the silence. "I love you beautiful girl."


	32. Upon Awakening

Catherine awoke to the sweet scent of apple and cinnamon. As her senses came alive one by one she realised that she was in her own bed, but she wasn't alone. Someone's arms were wrapped tightly around her back while her right hand was submerged in soft hair and her left rested on her companion's chest. Cracking open one eye she realised whom that companion was. Her head was resting comfortably in the crook of Sara's neck and their legs were tangled together. Carefully sitting up she rested an elbow on her pillow and studied the sleeping Sara, struck by how content she looked when she slept. The brunette snuggled closer, leaning her head against Catherine's bare chest. Cath just lay there for a while, running a hand lazily though Sara's brunette curls. Eventually she leant down and placed a kiss on the girl's head, before shuffling out of bed and putting a gown on.

She was staring absent-mindedly at a spot on the wall, lost in her thoughts and so jumped when the coffee pot beeped to say it was done. She poured 2 mugs, knowing exactly how Sara liked her coffee, and headed back upstairs. She paused in the doorway, observing Sara's sleeping form. The young woman had rolled onto her side and as the cover had slid down when Cath got up, she had an un-obscured view of Sara's naked back and side. She looked so perfect. The brunette stirred and mumbled something, pulling the blanket up over her head and shuffling down the bed. Catherine laughed quietly, causing Sara to groan again and slide further down. "You always this grumpy when you wake up?" the older woman asked, amused, as she made her way across the room, placing one mug on the table next to the bump in her bed formally known as Sara, then returning to her own side of the bed and leaning against the headboard with her drink. Stimulated by the scent of coffee Sara eventually sat up and reached for her own mug, holding the blanket against her to cover herself up. She sighed contentedly as the warm liquid slid down her throat and when she noticed Catherine's smirk she shrugged. "Small things make me happy in the morning." Cath nodded and inched closer, leaning in to Sara's ear. "Is that right?" she purred as she trailed a hand up her arm, nestling it in the untamed chestnut locks. Sara tensed a little, not entirely used to overt physical contact, but as Cath continued to gently caress her arm and neck she began to relax. They kissed slowly, tenderly massaging each other's lips until Cath pulled back slightly and grinned at Sara's flushed face. "Hmm, good morning honey." She whispered huskily.

"Good morning indeed. I could get used to that." Sara smiled, tucking brunette bangs behind her ear bashfully.

"Hmm, I'll bear that in mind." Cath grinned. She was about to speak again when the door, which had been pushed semi-closed, burst open and a whirlwind flew in and landed on the bottom of the bed.

"Hi mommy, hi Sara!" Lindsey announced, crawling further up the bed. Sara's immediate reaction upon seeing their surprise invader was to tense up and try fruitlessly to cover herself up more. Catherine however was perfectly relaxed and pulled her young daughter in for a morning cuddle.

"Morning baby, you hungry?" Lindsey nodded, kneeling between the two women, seemingly oblivious to their state of undress. "Ok, why don't you go play in your room for a while and I'll make you some breakfast when Sara and I are dressed." Lindsey scuttled off as fast as she arrived and a smirk spread across Catherine's face. "You can drop the covers now Hon."

"Sorry, I would have covered up more but I'm not used to having seven-year-olds burst into my room when I'm not dressed." Sara blushed. Catherine however just laughed.

"It's ok, I've lost count of the number of times she's walked in on me in the shower or getting dressed. Trust me darling there's nothing you've got that she hasn't seen before." The older woman tried and failed to hide the laugh at Sara's mystified expression. "Don't worry about it, c'mon." She tugged on her girlfriend's hand and pulled her as far as the en-suite door before Sara realised what she was suggesting. She stopped in the bathroom doorway and bit her lower lip, raising an eyebrow in question. Sara nodded slowly and allowed Cath to pull her through the door where Cath disrobed and Sara slowly dropped the bed sheet she was using to cover herself.

They stepped into the shower together as the hot water beat down on them and steam surrounded them like a thick San Francisco fog.

Catherine turned Sara around so the brunette had her back to her and began massaging soap into her pale skin. Sara shivered involuntarily at the touch, which began at the base of her back, and slowly moved up to the back of her neck, before sliding around her shoulders, across her chest and down to cup her breasts briefly, then sliding further down to caress her toned stomach. Catherine's touch was feather-light, but left a trail of flames beneath her skin. The blonde stepped closer so her chest was pressed tight against Sara's back and her lips were next to her ear. "You're so beautiful." She whispered, peppering butterfly kisses across her shoulder.

Other than that, no words were spoken as they lovingly washed and dressed each other, simply taking in the beauty of each other's bodies.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you thought. x**


	33. Tinsel

**Ok, i know that it has been ages since i updated and i apologise profusely, blame my boss! However, i am bakc now and i hope that this chapter does not disappoint. Please review :)**

* * *

Catherine made her way downstairs followed by Sara who had Lindsey balanced on her hip, her small arms around the woman's neck, babbling about her fairies. Entering the kitchen Catherine cut her little girl off mid ramble.

"Hey, how about we have breakfast first and then you can introduce Sara to your fairies later, okay?"

"Okay mommy." She agreed, clambering out of Sara's arms and dropping into a chair. Cath placed a plate of toast and a bowl of cereal in front of her, before settling herself carefully on Sara's lap to drink her coffee. As soon as she had finished her breakfast Lindsey dropped her spoon and jumped up, ready to go back to playing. However, she paused when she got to the kitchen door and turned to look at the adults. "We're still putting the tree up today?" she asked hopeful.

"Sure, after dinner we'll put the decorations up." Cath answered. Lindsey jumped up and down and scampered off merrily. Left alone again, Sara rested her head against Catherine's shoulder.

"So, these fairies? Am I supposed to be able to see them or do they only show themselves to the little one?" she asked, pointing in the direction Lindsey had disappeared in. Catherine laughed and kissed the top of Sara's head.

"I can't say for sure but if they are invisible to us then there's probably a whole colony of them inside my vacuum cleaner." She joked, climbing off of her girlfriend to clear the table. Sara was about to stand up and help but Catherine stopped her. "S'ok, you stay there. I can manage." She flashed Sara a smile and ran a hand through her dark curly hair as she walked past. Sara sighed contentedly.

* * *

"Now?" Lindsey demanded as Catherine and Sara manoeuvred the tree down from the attic. Sara couldn't help but compare her to Catherine, as she stood at the bottom of the stairs with her blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, her hands on her hips and a pout on her face.

"Yeah Lindsey, now." Cath shouted. The little girl ran off to get her handmade Christmas decoration that she had made in school. It was a sparkly fairy – of course – to sit on top of the tree. "You alright?" Cath called to her girlfriend, who was currently hidden behind a 6-foot plastic spruce.

"Yeah, but I think I lost a few branches on your attic trapdoor." She replied, though it came out somewhat muffled.

Eventually they got the tree downstairs, without falling themselves, and sort of upright in the corner of the living room. Sort of. "It's a little…lopsided." Sara evaluated, walking in a semi-circle around it. After a good few minutes re-shuffling it, and a few near misses with the fireplace, they got the tree situated in its new home, comfortably housed between the wall, the window and an armchair.

"When can we put Sparkle up?" Lindsey asked, bouncing on the armchair.

"Lets put the rest of the decorations up first, and we'll put Sparkle on last." Catherine suggested. They heaved the bag of decorations down the stairs and, began sorting through them to find what they needed first. Lights.

Upon returning to the living room Lindsey burst into a fit of giggles. "Are you stuck?"

"No, we do this every day." Sara mumbled, trying to find the end of the cable, which appeared to have wound itself around the two women, effectively binding them tightly together. Catherine held up one end and grinned.

"Shall we save ourselves the effort and just stay like this." She said, pressing her lips to Sara's in a sweet kiss.

"Eww!" The little voice made them laugh into the kiss and they broke apart and resumed untangling themselves. Once free Cath left the lights to her capable girlfriend and lifted her daughter up into her arms.

"What do you mean eww?" She mocked, peppering kisses over her girl's face, making Lindsey laugh and squirm in her grip.

"Let there be light!" Sara proclaimed, plugging them in and watching the tree illuminate.

"Yey!" Lindsey exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

"Hmm, my angel." Catherine hummed, leaning in for another quick kiss.

* * *

An hour later and the tree was covered from top to bottom in tinsel, baubles, cherubs, angels and yet more tinsel. Cath had found the whole fiasco very entertaining; if she didn't know better she'd say Sara was even more excited than Lindsey as she giggled and draped tinsel around herself and Lindsey and Catherine and ... anything else in sight. Finally, it was time to put Sparkle in her place. Sara lifted Lindsey and held her up to place the pretty pink fairy proudly on the top branch while Catherine snapped a sneaky photo of them in that perfect position. And though it made her heart melt to watch the scene, Catherine did not miss the wince as Sara lifted the child up.

"Hey baby, why don't you go get into your PJs and then we'll watch a movie before bed." Lindsey scuttled off and Catherine walked over to Sara, wrapping her arms around the younger woman from behind. "You really should be careful, your ribs will never heal if you keep carrying her around like that, I know she's getting heavy." She whispered to her, placing a kiss on her neck. Sara's only response was a quiet 'hmm'. She appeared lost in her thoughts as she stared at the tree proudly, a relaxed smile on her face. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I've never had this before." Sara replied distantly, still lost in her thoughts. Cath nudged her gently, urging her to elaborate. "When I was a kid we never made that big a deal of Christmas, and it's not like I've got any reason, or space for that matter, to put loads of decorations up in my apartment. This is new to me. It's nice." Finally she turned her head to rest her forehead against Catherine's. "Thank you." The blonde sensed that there was more to Sara's childhood and desperately wanted to ask but before she could Lindsey appeared by her side again with a packet of powdered chocolate.

"Mommy, can I have a hot chocolate?" she asked nuzzling her way in-between the women. Cath took the packet from her and headed into the kitchen, her mid still whirring.

She knew from her conversations with Dan Fitzgerald that Sara had issues from her past to deal with, and that she had attempted suicide in the past. And of course there was the unusually extreme reaction to certain cases that just seemed to get under her skin. Preparing her daughter's hot chocolate Cath returned to the living room, making a mental note to breach the topic with Sara at a later date.


	34. In the cold of the night

**A new day, a new chapter. Next one should be up tomorrow, hope you like :)**

* * *

Once Lindsey had finally gone to bed, Catherine and Sara were curled up on the couch together with a glass of wine, just basking in the gentle glow of the Christmas lights. They sat in companionable silence, enjoying the simple blessing of each other's company. Catherine had her head tucked into the crook of Sara's neck and was drawing mindless patterns on her chest. Finally, she got up the courage to voice the question burning on her tongue.

"Sara, sweetie can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What you said earlier, about not doing much for Christmas when you were a kid…I got the feeling that there was something more that you weren't telling me." she kept her voice gentle, trying not to sound accusatory. Still, she felt Sara tense up in her arms and immediately tried to calm her. "You don't have to tell me anything, I just wanted you to know that I'm here if you ever need to talk, about anything. I won't judge you." Sara shuffled so that she could look into Catherine's caring blue eyes.

"I do trust you, and I want to tell you, it's just hard for me. I haven't really told anyone about it before. I…" Cath could tell that she was struggling with her words so cupped her cheek tenderly.

"Hey, it's ok babe, you tell me whenever you're ready, I don't want to rush you. Just so long as you know that I am always here if you want to talk." she placed a soft kiss on Sara's lips and cuddled closer to the brunette.

* * *

Catherine awoke several hours later to an empty bed. Slipping a robe over her bare shoulders she padded downstairs in her slippers and searched for her missing girlfriend. After eliminating the house she eventually found her sitting on the front porch steps, staring absently at the sky. The blonde wrapped her gown around her tighter and sat down next to Sara. When the young woman didn't look at her she took her hand gently, causing the brunette to jump, startled out of her thoughts. She smiled shyly at Cath and resumed staring into the distance. They sat in silence for a long time, until Sara spoke out of the blue, her breath forming a faint mist in the air.

"No one listened. No one ever cared. Not until my mother killed him." On the surface her voice was void of emotion, but Catherine could tell that this was really hard for her to say. "She had to stab him to death for someone to pay attention and see what was going on, what he had been doing to us. 10 years I lived with it, the beatings, the abuse, the…" she swallowed hard, fighting back the tears. "And their solution was to take my mother away from us, to throw us into social services. Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Silent tears had started to trek their way down Sara's pale, scratched cheeks and were reflecting in the light of the street. Catherine reached out to wipe them away but the movement caught Sara off guard and the young brunette jumped up off the steps and stared at Catherine with wide scared eyes. Surprised, Cath stood up and moved towards her, causing the brunette to step back. Scared that Sara might fall down the steps if she moved any further back, Cath stood still.

"Hey, its ok honey, I'm not going to hurt you." she whispered, reaching out her hands in a vain effort to bring Sara back to her. Sara was tense and shaking, whether from the cold or fear no one knew. Moving as slowly as she could Cath inched closer to her until she was within arms reach, at which point she let her fingertips brush Sara's arms. When her girlfriend didn't shy away from her touch the blonde took one more step, so she was flush against Sara and wrapped her in a tight hug. "It's okay baby, I've got you. It's alright, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again." She whispered into her hair softly, peppering kisses against her cold skin.

* * *

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, but Catherine became aware of Sara shivering in her arms, not surprising since she was only wearing a t-shirt and boxer shorts. Silently she took her by the hand and led her back inside, sitting Sara on the couch and wrapping a blanket around her before disappearing into the kitchen to make coffee, figuring they had more talking to do.

While she waited for the coffee to brew she hovered in the doorway, watching Sara from behind and trying to get her head around what had just happened. She had already figured that there was some history of abuse in Sara's life, she just didn't know how much. But to see your father murdered, and then to be abandoned in the foster system. Catherine knew that the system now was bad enough, but in the 80s, it would have been a death sentence for a kid like Sara: small, jumpy, vulnerable. It was little wonder that Sara found it hard to trust people. Outside the brunette seemed to have zoned out while she was talking, and Catherine's sudden movement towards her face must have scared the life out of her. Cath mentally kicked herself for not thinking. Clearly she was going to have to be more careful in how she dealt with this.

Coffee in hand she made her way back to the living room and handed Sara a mug, settling herself on the couch. Once again she let Sara talk in her own time.

"I'm sorry." The voice was timid and it scared Catherine.

"There's nothing to be sorry about baby, it's not your fault." Cath assured her, making sure Sara was looking into her eyes so she would see the truth behind them. "I'm sorry I scared you, but honey you have to believe that I would never ever hurt you." She lifted Sara's face, losing her self in soulful hazel-brown orbs. "I love you."

* * *

**x**


	35. Guilt

Sara stared at her with wide eyes, unsure if she had heard that correctly or if it was her imagination. Unable to speak she just nodded and looked down shyly. Her mind was still numb from what had happened outside and she could not function properly just yet.

Catherine was not sure how to take Sara's reaction. She had not expected Sara to say it back straight away, and in truth would rather she did not say it if she did not feel that way yet, there was time for that in the future. Right now, she was trying to convey to Sara how much she cared about her, and the fact that she was safe and loved here.

Sensing that Sara was not going to speak, Catherine pushed her a little. "Sar, honey please talk to me." Sara swallowed hard.

"I…I've never told anyone about my family, why would I?" she ran a hand through her hair and released a shaky breath. "My father…he drank. And he took drugs. It made him kind of…"

"Violent?" Catherine filled in.

"Unpredictable. Sometimes when we were younger, he would be like a proper father. Other times, he was like a … monster. As we got older and my parents' bed and breakfast went downhill, he drank more, got more violent. I hated him, and then I hated myself for that, because he was my father." Catherine went to tell her that it was not her fault but she was cut off when Sara continued. "My mother worked as a waitress on Thursday nights. We were left alone with my father. One night she came home from work early and she found him in my room, he was…he was…" Catherine saw a tear trickle down her face and instinctively reached out, but caught herself in time and slowed her movement, making sure that Sara saw what she was doing as she reached up to wipe it away with the pad of her thumb.

"Shush, honey it's ok."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, embarrassed, as she tried pitifully to wipe her tears away with the back of her hand. Cath just took her hand, pulling it away from her face and placed tender kisses on her knuckles.

"Don't be." She mumbled into Sara's soft skin. "Not your fault baby." Sara tugged her hand back and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them tightly.

"It's funny ... the things that you remember and the things that you  
don't, you know. There was a smell of iron in the air. Cast-off on the bedroom  
wall. There was this young cop puking his guts. I remember the woman who took  
me to foster care. I can't remember her name. Which is strange, you know,  
'cause I couldn't let go of her hand. I do remember the looks. I became the girl whose father was stabbed to death." She looked at Catherine, pain in her dark eyes, "do you think there's a murder gene?" The blonde was stunned by the question. She moved to sit on the table in front of Sara, placing her hands on the girl's legs.

"No sweetie, I don't think that." Despite her shock she kept her voice soft and calm.

"You wouldn't know that in my house. The fights, the yelling, the trips  
to the hospital. I thought it was the way that everybody lived. When my mother  
killed my father, I found out that it wasn't." Cath felt that if you slowed this down she could pinpoint the exact second that Sara fell apart. Her strong resolve had broken from the effort of hiding her secret for so long and she started crying, laying her head on her knees, still pulled up to her chest.

"Oh Sara," the older woman sighed and wrapped her arms around the shaking brunette, pulling her close. "Shush darling its okay, its alright I've got you now, you're safe." She continued to whisper comforts in her ear, holding her and softly rocking her until she felt Sara relax and let herself be comforted.

* * *

An hour later and, even though they had migrated into a more comfortable position on the couch, with Catherine laid back into the cushions and Sara curled into her both under the blanket, they were still there. Once Sara had stopped shaking completely and her breathing evened out Catherine placed a kiss into her hair. "You okay?" Sara nodded and snuffled.

"I'm sorry."

"Baby stop apologising. You haven't done anything wrong, okay?" No answer. "Okay?" she reiterated. Still no answer. She lifted Sara's face to get her attention. "Sara I know that you went through hell as a child, and I know that it must be very hard for you to deal with, but you cannot keep blaming yourself. What your father did to you was not your fault. You were a child Sara." The brunette still did not look convinced so Catherine shuffled into a more upright position, pulling Sara up with her. "Look, if Lindsey came home and said that a teacher had hit her, would you blame her for it?" Sara wrinkled up her nose in disgust at the thought, an expression that even under these circumstances Catherine found so cute.

"No, of course not."

"Okay, so why blame yourself for what someone did to you. Sara sweetheart you were an innocent child, you had no control in what happened to you." Though she still didn't fully look convinced, Cath could see a glimmer of understanding in Sara's eyes and took that as a good sign.

"I was always scared to let anyone too close." She murmured, almost to herself really.

"I can imagine how scary it must be but I won't …"

"No," Sara cut her off. "Not just because I was scared of what they might do, but also because I was scared that I might be like them. That I could do that to…"

"No." This time Catherine interrupted, and the harsh tone of her voice made Sara jump. "No, no, no Sidle don't you dare." She took Sara's face in her hands. "You are one of the sweetest, gentlest, most selfless people I have ever met, you could not hurt a fly. You're a vegetarian for god's sake." That earned her a tiny smile from Sara. "Babe I know you, and I know that you would never hurt anyone. I trust you with my life, and more than that I trust you with my daughter's life." Finally a proper smile broke out across her face. Happy that her work was done, Catherine pressed a kiss to her lips. "That's more like it. Now come on, come back to bed." She led her young girlfriend upstairs by the hand and they lay down in each other's arms. Sara drifted off to sleep, her head resting on Catherine's chest, with the peaceful thought that she would always have a place in the beating heart below.


	36. On the edge of the World

**Happy Christmas! Hope y'all had a good time. And i decided our favourite ladies deserved a good christmas too, so i hope this chapter does them justice. Enjoy, and feel free to leave a review :) x**

* * *

"Mommy, Sara! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" The little girl catapulted onto the bed. Two groans emanated from beneath the covers.

"Lindsey, sweetie, it's 4am." Catherine mumbled, disentangling herself from Sara and sitting half up to face her daughter, who was on her knees with a cheeky grin.

"But it's Christmas day!" She explained, grabbing the covers firmly in her small hands and yanking it down, causing Sara to grumble and curl up into a tight little ball. Catherine laughed and stroked Lindsey's hair, before turning her attention to her girlfriend.

"Hmm, is Miss Grumpy-pants going to get up?" she asked, leaning down to Sara's ear.

"No." she mumbled, snuggling closer to Catherine. The blonde looked up at Lindsey, a smile twitching at her lips. Lindsey understood her look and pounced on Sara, tickling her until she shrieked and struggled away from her. Suddenly she sat upright and lifted Lindsey up, holding her high above her head. "Alright, alright! I'm up," she laughed. She placed the child back on the bed and Lindsey scampered off downstairs, urging them to hurry up. Catherine kissed Sara's cheek.

"Happy Christmas baby." she whispered. Sara smiled shyly and reciprocated with a kiss on the lips.

"Mommy, Sara! Hurry up!"

* * *

"Thank you! Thank you!" She squealed, throwing her arms around the women tightly before dropping back onto her knees to peer into the cage of her new pet. The fluffy brown and black hamster crept out of the nest of bedding and shuffled to the cage door to sniff his spectator curiously. "I'm gonna call him Henry." She grinned, poking a treat through the bars, which he grabbed with his sharp little teeth and nibbled on happily. "Henry the Hamster."

Catherine and Sara had each gotten Lindsey presents, and when Catherine had been probing Sara for ideas for a main present Sara had suggested a pet. At first the idea had been instantly rejected, but the more Cath thought about it the more it sounded like a good idea: it would teach Linds responsibility and keep her company when Catherine was at work. And, since Sara had come up with it, Cath insisted it was to be a joint present from them both. They initially decided on a kitten but opted for a smaller pet to start with. And thus, Henry the Hamster was welcomed into the Willows' household.

* * *

After dinner, with the washing up done and half a box of chocolates mysteriously gone, Catherine and Sara collapsed onto the couch in a comfortable heap. They could hear Lindsey moving things around her bedroom upstairs to make room for her new gifts. Every now and then they'd hear a crash and thank God that Henry was still sat in front of them, as Linds hadn't made space for him in her room yet.

Sara stood up, disturbing Cath who had settled herself comfortably on Sara's shoulder. She watched the brunette go across the room and take something off the bookshelf. How had she not noticed it sat there?

"I know we said we were only going to get each other one present but I couldn't resist." She handed the little blue box to Catherine. "Think of it as a thank you gift." Cath raised an eyebrow and opened it carefully.

"Oh my goodness." She gasped. Inside was a white gold chain necklace with a heart pendant. Interlinked with the heart was a smaller, diamond-studded heart that looked like it was made of ice crystals. "Sara, it's beautiful." She traced the outline of the pendant delicately.

"It's diamond, your birthstone. Diamond is revered as the greatest stone because of the beauty, the strength, the strong positive spiritual energy surrounding it." Sara explained as she carefully removed it from the box and draped it around Catherine's neck, fastening it at the back. She let her fingers linger on Cath's neck, caressing the soft skin, an action that sent tingles down the blonde's spine. "It's perfect for you." Catherine didn't know what to say, what could she say? In her own way Sara had just given her the words she desperately wanted to hear, and she could wear them every day.

You know when you are standing on the edge of a cliff and you have two choices: you can turn around and return to the safety of familiarity, or you can jump, knowing that the fall will be the best feeling in the world, but not knowing where you might land. That is how Catherine felt right now. In this very moment she was stood on that cliff, and she had to make a choice that would change her world.

Andre Gide once said _'__Art begins with resistance - at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece has ever been created without great labour.__'_ And tonight Catherine and Sara gave a completely different meaning to that. They had resisted temptation, and when that temptation got too much to bear, they overcame it. And the result was a human masterpiece like they had never imagined.

Naked, hot, wet. Their bodies moved as one, their fingers gliding across skin like water on ice. Their breath blending together, tongues dancing a routine that only they could master, hands seeking every area, lips kissing every inch of skin. They could feel the fire of passion burning through their blood with every touch. The memory of this night would be scorched into their minds and their bodies forever: the texture, the taste, the feeling of skin on skin.

Their bodies moulded together perfectly, as if they had been designed that way. They had found their missing piece – like a jigsaw puzzle – and finally, after a lifetime of living with an emptiness they never knew existed, they were complete. They were one.

And at long last Catherine heard those words that brought her tumbling over the edge.

"I love you too."


	37. Routines

**I know its been a while, hope y'all had a good christmas and new year, and what better way to start off the new year than a criminal trial? x**

* * *

"Hi, Happy Christmas!" Catherine greeted, wrapping her sister in a hug. "And Happy Christmas to you little man," she managed to place a kiss on her nephew's cheek before he escaped her grip and ran off to investigate Henry. The women laughed and made their way to the kitchen, leaving the children to play.

Nancy watched her sister glide around the room making coffee and croissants with a lazy grin on her face. She knew that look.

"You've had sex." She announced, causing Catherine to whirl around and gape at her with wide eyes. Busted.

"How do you do that?" Cath asked, rolling her eyes and returning to the oven to get their breakfast out.

"It's a gift. So…how are things with Miss Sidle?" Nancy inquired, accepting her food and levelling her sibling with a satisfied smirk. Catherine's eyes glazed over and that grin returned.

"Amazing." She breathed dreamily. "She's just so…passionate, and beautiful, and sweet. Oh, and she has the cutest birthmark on her hip, its right…"

"Wow Cathy, easy on the details please." Nancy raised her hands, wishing she hadn't asked. "What have you done with her anyway? Is she a spent force under the duvet?" Catherine nearly choked on her coffee.

"I left her sleeping, it was an early morning yesterday."

"And a late night by the sounds of things." Catherine swatted at her arm with a tea towel for that. "Seriously Hun, I'm happy for you. Just, take things easy okay, I don't want you to fall for her and get hurt." Cath grinned sleepily at her sister.

"I think it's a little late for that Nance, I've already fallen and trust me I'm enjoying every minute of it."

* * *

Catherine begrudgingly returned to work the day after Boxing Day and Sara decided to make the most of her time alone with Lindsey. Every morning Cath would return home to find another papier-mâché model on the kitchen table or an interesting looking dessert in the fridge. Not the she was complaining, it was great that they got on so well, and she loved seeing her girls so happy. She was actually pleasantly surprised at Sara's connection with her daughter; apparently all those times Sara insisted that she was not good with kids were just blatant lies. She was great with Linds.

They soon fell into an easy routine: Catherine would come home from work and have breakfast with them, already prepared by Sara and her little helper, then she'd go have a shower and a nap while Sara entertained Lindsey. She would come downstairs for lunch, spend the afternoon with her girls, put Lindsey to bed and spend a couple of precious hours alone with Sara before returning to work.

However, both women knew that this fairytale was not going to carry on like this for long, since Lydia Hart's court case was approaching imminently.

* * *

Day 1

"Catherine do I really have to do this?" Sara whined as she tried futilely to zip up her black dress at the back before giving up and letting her hands drop to her sides.

"Yes, if you don't testify then the jury could side with Lydia." Cath insisted, zipping up Sara's dress for her. She turned her around and wrapped her arms around Sara's neck, holding her gaze. "Hey, you're not alone up there ok, we're all here for you. Just tell the truth and leave the rest up to the lawyers." She placed a kiss on Sara's lips. "Trust me baby everything will be fine." Sara smiled weakly and nodded. Catherine released her and turned to the little blonde lying on her stomach on the bed watching the interaction with curiosity. "Now little miss, you behave for Aunt Nancy okay, and don't forget to do your homework." She tapped Lindsey's nose as she walked past her.

"Why can't I come with you guys?" She sat up and swung her legs off the edge of the bed, a pout on her little mouth. Sara crouched down to her level and smiled.

"Tell you what, why don't I stay with Nancy and do your homework and you can take my place in court?"

"No trading!" Catherine ordered, rummaging in her jewellery box for a pair of earrings. "Linds, go get your bag." She girl crawled off the bed and ran out of the room. Sara sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through her hair. Catherine abandoned her jewellery to study her carefully before sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her lower back. "Hon I know that you're scared and I am too, but you are not on trial here ok, and the evidence is on our side. And we have the confession,"

"Which doesn't count because her lawyer wasn't present so that interrogation can't be used as evidence. She's pleading not guilty."

"It doesn't matter. We've got the truth, that's all that counts." Sara exhaled and nodded. Catherine stood up, pulled Sara into her arms and kissed her cheek tenderly. "Don't be scared Sara, I've got you now. You're safe now."

They stayed like that until the doorbell forced them apart and they gathered their things. Lindsey disappeared with Nancy and the women got into Cath's car, her new car. "You ready?" Sara took a deep breath and fixed her deep hazel eyes on Catherine.

"Ready."

* * *

**I know its not my best work but let me know what you think anyways :)**


	38. Court is in session

**Ok, i don't know how realistic the next few chapters will be but i really don't care, my story my court rules :) Reviews will make me update faster xxx**

* * *

Day 1

The first time Sara Sidle sat in a courtroom she was ten years old. The sounds, the smells, the strange people in silly wigs: everything was unfamiliar and daunting.

And as soon as she entered the courtroom she felt that feeling wash over her all over again. The oppressive atmosphere seemed to swallow her and she barely made it through the door before she felt her legs turn to jelly. She stepped back in an attempt to steady herself and felt Catherine's supportive hand on her back.

The guys had been in the courtroom for a few minutes, and Nick was the first to notice the girls arrive. He could practically see Sara trembling from where he sat, and he could also see her visibly relax as Catherine placed a hand on her back and leant in to whisper something to her. It was unfamiliar, and yet very touching to witness the simple interaction between the two women. As they approached, with Cath's hand still firmly placed at the base of Sara's back, Nick stood up to give her a hug.

"Hey, how're ya doing darlin'?" He asked softly, wrapping his strong arms around her tightly. She shrugged and nestled under his chin.

"I'm ok. I can think of about a million things I'd rather do today." She said, resting against his chest. Warrick was next to give her a hug, followed by Greg, who was rather reluctant to let her go until he noticed Catherine's raised eyebrow and promptly dropped his hands to his sides.

Since she was a witness today Sara had to stay outside the courtroom for the duration. As soon as the aforementioned people in silly wigs began appearing around the room she decided it was time for her to disappear. "I think that's my cue to go." She said reluctantly letting go of Catherine's hand. With a final tender kiss from her girlfriend, she left through the heavy wooden doors at the end of the room.

Catherine watched Sara leave the room with a heavy heart before reluctantly sitting down between Warrick and Grissom. Shortly after a door at the other end of the room opened and a pale, wide-eyed Lydia walked out flanked by two prison guards. It was the first time Catherine had seen her since the interrogation. Prison life had done her no favours; she was skinny, paler than ever and on edge. Yet despite this she did not appear remorseful. Her tense, shaking body position looked fearful but her cold eyes the colour of ice were blank, empty. Soulless. Catherine was startled out of her thoughts by a dull thud of the gavel.

"Court is now in Session."

* * *

"Fifteen minute recess then we'll have prosecution's first witness." People began to stand up and stretch as Lydia was led away through the little door in the corner. As soon as the opportunity arose Catherine was on her feet and battling her way to the door to get to Sara. However, she was not the only one with that in mind. A few reporters were allowed into court, and as soon as the doors were opened they were out in the hallway, cameras and all. One feisty woman, whom Cath recognised as a TV News presenter, spotted Sara immediately and barrelled over to her with the camera in tow.

"Miss Sidle, how do you feel about testifying against your ex-girlfriend? Do you really think she's guilty?" Catherine was sort of tangled in a mass of people fighting their way out for fresh air but she could still clearly see Sara's deer-in-the headlight expression. More TV cameras had spotted Sara and were moving in her direction, which ultimately resulted in a smush of people elbowing each other with microphones. Finally free from the crowed that had amassed directly outside the doors, Catherine looked up just in time to see Sara bolt down the corridor. The blonde barged past the cameras and held up her hands.

"She has no comment." She bellowed, before following her girlfriend's footsteps, leaving the baffled media in her wake.

* * *

Catherine eventually found Sara in the women's bathroom. She was leaning against the counter, her knuckles matching the white ceramic sink, and her breathing was laboured. Cath desperately wanted to run over and wrap her arms around the shaking girl, but stopped herself deciding that scaring Sara was not the best thing to do right now. Instead she stood out of sight, debating whether to approach her girlfriend or give her some time alone. However Sara must have sensed her presence because out of the blue she spoke.

"I trusted her. I told her everything about me, about my family and my past. And she used that against me, to hurt me. She slit my wrists to make everyone think I was losing it. And then, she tried to hurt you, even though she knew that it would kill me if anything happened to you. I trusted her more than anyone and she … she…" tears streamed down her face as the distress seemed to get too much for her. Catherine, frozen in place by the words, finally moved, bolting across the room just in time to catch Sara as her legs buckled. She sat on the floor, cradled in Catherine's arms, and cried against her chest as the older woman whispered comforts to her. Cath knew that the words she spoke wouldn't help, if Sara could even hear them, but she didn't know what else to do to fix this, so she just let Sara cry herself out. "I thought that if I could just face her, look her in the eye, then I could move on, but … I can't do it Cat, I can't get up there and look at her. She betrayed me."

"Yes you can. I know you can." Cath brushed a strand of hair out of Sara's hair. Sara shook her head.

"How do you know that?"

"Because you're my girl. And because we're all here for you. When this is all over, and it will be over one day, you'll still have us. Sara baby you can do anything you put your mind to. And you are going to get up there, look her in the eye and show her that she hasn't beaten you."


	39. Victim's testimony

**Hi, sorry for the delay, wouldn't let me update for some unknown reason. Anyways, am back :) Hope you enjoy x**

* * *

"Prosecution calls Sara Sidle." Sara walked on unsteady legs to the stand. As she was sworn in her eyes kept flicking to Catherine, searching for moral support. The blonde was fighting the urge to run up and throw her arms around her trembling girlfriend. Instead, she had to settle for a reassuring smile. Sara was fidgeting on the stand, obviously nervous and determinedly avoiding Lydia's gaze.

"Miss Sidle, you and the defendant were in a relationship together from April til December of last year, is that correct?"

"Yes." Her voice was weak and quiet.

"How would you describe Lydia in the relationship?"

"Clingy. And jealous. She would sit in her car in the parking lot at my work." For the first time Sara caught Lydia's gaze, and saw the blonde's eyes go wide. Apparently she wasn't aware that Sara knew that.

"Did this bother you? The clinginess?"

"Sometimes."

"And why did the relationship end?" She had practiced the questions with the prosecution lawyer many times and rehearsed the answers like a script, yet the words still caught in her throat.

"She tried to kill me." There was a quiet murmur around the courtroom.

"Could you elaborate?"

"She knocked me out and slit my wrists." Sara answered bluntly. She had yet to look at Lydia but she could feel her eyes burning into her. Tim Collins, the defense attorney and a smarmy man who could be Ecklie's younger brother, stood up.

"Objection, my client was cleared of that due to lack of evidence."

"Sustained." The judge declared.

"Miss Sidle, can you tell us what happened on December 4th?" Sara took a deep breath and locked eyes with Catherine.

"I picked up my friend's car from the garage and drove it to our work."

"What time was this?"

"I picked it up at 3. I stopped at a coffee shop then headed to the crime lab."

"Where you and Ms Willows, the owner of the vehicle, both work."

"Yes."

"Tell us about the crash."

"Somewhere along Blue Diamond Road I swerved to avoid another car, and I just lost control of the steering wheel. I don't really remember anything else."

"Why do you think Lydia would do something like this?" for the first time Sara locked her eyes onto Lydia's, so that she above anyone else would see the truth behind them.

"I wish I knew."

* * *

"Cross examination, Mr Collins."

"Miss Sidle, where did you first meet Miss Hart?" Collins asked lazily.

"Scarlett Bar." She answered. If only all the questions would be this easy. Collin's stood up and paced leisurely in front of the courtroom like it was his kingdom.

"Scarlett Bar." He rolled the words around his mouth slowly, before turning to her with a wily glint in his eyes. "Do you always date people you pick up in bars?" Sara resisted the urge to roll her eyes; undermining the witness's character was the oldest trick in the book.

"No, we met through mutual friends while in a bar."

"I see." He paused. "You claim Miss Hart was jealous, did you ever consider that she had reason to be?" Sara stuttered out a no, not sure what to make of that question. Collin's continued. "Did it never occur to you that perhaps the reason for her jealousy was your unusually close relationship with your colleagues, with a certain female colleague for example?" Sara did not answer, not sure what to say. Catherine nervously twisted her hands in her lap, she had a feeling she knew where this was going and it was not good. "You collected your 'friend's car from Carpenter's garage on the 4th of December, why did she not collect it herself?"

"I thought's I'd save her a job, collect it for her and pick her up at work so she didn't have to get a cab."

"Very generous of you. Why?" Sara's eyes met Catherine's once again and despite her nervousness there was a warm truth behind them.

"She took care of me when I came out of hospital. Both times. She's been good to me"

"I bet she has." Collin's muttered, clearly enough for the jury to hear. "Miss Sidle, are you and Ms Willows currently an item?" Sara swallowed hard before she answered.

"Yes."

"And when did the relationship commence?"

"November 28th."

"Really. So you and …" he shot a sideways glance at Catherine, "…Ms Willows got together nearly a whole week before the car crash. And when, precisely, did you're relationship with Lydia Hart end." Sara blinked.

"When she got arrested for slitting my wrists." She swore she heard a snicker from the jury. At least she got a laugh out of one of them.

"And I have that here. Lydia Hart was arrested on the …28th November. So, you and Ms Willows concoct a scheme to frame Miss Hart for attempted murder, and as soon as she is out of the picture you hook up,"

"No!" Sara yelled, but he didn't stop.

"And when she is released and her first port of call is to check on her girlfriend, she finds her in the arms of another woman."

"Objection! The victim is not on trial!" The prosecution lawyer finally stood up.

"Withdrawn. No further questions." Tim Collins sat back down with a smug grin, which was only rivalled by the one adorning Lydia's face.

"Miss Sidle you are dismissed. Court is adjourned for the day."

Sara stood up on trembling legs and walked slowly down the steps. Catherine was out of her seat on over the barrier before the gavel had left the bench. The blonde threw herself at Sara, wrapping her shaking girlfriend in her arms and rubbing her back tenderly.

"It's okay baby, I've got you now."

"She did this." Sara stammered.

"Tim Collins is a crook of a lawyer, he'll have all sorts of tricks up his sleeve but we've still got the evidence." Grissom said, joining the girls along with the rest of the team. "Forensics beats tactics every time." Sara laughed dryly.

"Thanks Griss but I don't know which trial you were watching. He made me sound like a …"

"…It doesn't matter." Cath stopped her. "She still has to back this up. And when she gets up on that stand the jury will see her for the lying little cow that she is." Sara laughed again and buried her head in Catherine's neck.

"Thank you." She whispered.


	40. DoubleCrossExamination

Day Two.

"Prosecution calls Stephanie Scully as witness." Steph made her way to the front of the courtroom and was sworn in by a tall, weedy man in a bad suit. Obviously not familiar with testifying in court, she was fidgeting on the stand and her eyes were flicking from one side of the room to the other.

"Miss Scully, when did you service Ms Willows' car?"

"December 4th." For someone who was usually so sure of herself her voice was trembling as she spoke.

"And what work did it need?"

"Nothing really. I changed the tyres and did a general check."

"And what does a general check entail, exactly?" finally Steph seemed to relax and her voice evened out as she entered her element. Cars she could talk about anywhere, even on the stand.

"I checked the engine, brakes and steering and I re-filled the oil and water levels."

"Did you double check everything before signing it back to Ms Willows?"

"Yes. But I actually signed it over to Sara Sidle."

"Did you know that she would be picking up the car?"

"Yes. She phoned me earlier in the day to tell me."

"How do you know Miss Sidle?"

"We met at my bar three years ago. We've been friends ever since. She helps out at my garage sometimes."

"So, you would never intentionally hurt her."

"Of course not." The sincerity in her voice could not be mistaken.

"And you're certain that you checked _everything_?"

"Definitely."

"Thank you." The lawyer nodded and sat down and Steph took a deep breath. This was the hard part. The judge turned to Tim Collins.

"Defense, any questions?" Tim stood up and wandered to the front of the courtroom lazily.

"Yes your honour. Miss Scully, was there anyone with you at the garage that day?"

"Yes." She gulped. So far she had been confident in her answers, she could come unstuck here.

"Who would that be?" He grinned that smarmy smile.

"My son."

"Do you bring your son," he checked his notes, "who is three years old, to work with you often?"

"No, usually my friend looks after him. She was busy that day."

"Now, I don't work in a garage but I can imagine that trying to work with a three year old around must be quite distracting. Are you sure that, in amongst working and looking after a small child, you did not forget anything? Tightening the steering nut, for example?"

"I'm sure." Despite her best attempts to keep her voice steady her nerves betrayed her.

"You're absolutely, one hundred percent certain that you didn't forget?" Steph hesitated, perhaps a little too long, as Collins grinned and turned towards the jury. "No more questions your honour." Steph's stomach was jumping and her heart was pounding in her ears so much that she almost did not hear the prosecution lawyer jump up and interrupt before the judge could speak.

"Judge, one more question. Miss Scully, how many times have you forgotten to tighten the steering nut?" Steph reclaimed her confidence again as she answered honestly and strongly.

"None."

"No more questions your honour." The judge sighed and turned to Tim.

"Mr Collins?"

"No more questions your honour." He parroted.

"Miss Scully you're dismissed." Steph scuttled out of the courtroom as fast as she could, desperate to forget the past few minutes.

* * *

"Mr Stokes, please explain to the courtroom what you found when you examined Ms Willow's car."

Unlike Steph, Nick was confident on the stand and sat perfectly still as she answered.

"The steering nut was loose." Stay focussed, short simple answers.

"And according to the investigation that was the official cause of the accident?"

"Yes."

"And when you printed the steering nut what did you find, if anything?"

"We found Lydia Hart's fingerprints on the steering nut and on one of the wrenches at Carpenter's Garage."

"Mr Stokes, tell me about the CCTV footage." Nick cleared his throat.

"We got a surveillance tape from the diner across the road from Carpenter's Garage, which captures most of the forecourt. On the day of the accident it shows Miss Hart walking across the forecourt, bending down under the car and walking away again. In total she in on camera for four minutes."

"And in your experiments how long did it take to loosen the steering nut of a car of the same type and model?"

"A matter of seconds."

"So for an amateur, four minutes would be ample time to find and loosen the steering nut."

"Definitely."

"Thank you Mr Stokes." The lawyer sat down and Tim Collins was back on his feet again.

"Mr Stokes, you say that you correctly identified Miss Hart on the video footage, but, as the jury will see, the footage is blurred at best, how can you be sure that you have to right person?"

"The height and build are all accurate for Miss Hart, and we also have an eye-witness who saw Miss Hart lurking outside the Garage all day before the accident, up until the point when Miss Sidle came to collect the car."

"But this 'eye-witness' did not actually see her tamper with the car."

"No. But we have physical evidence linking her to the steering nut."  
"Yes so we've heard. Mr Stokes, is it not true that you and Miss Sidle are close friends?"

"Yes."

"So close in fact that you have even slept together?" Nick's dark eyes flicked immediately to the team sitting in the audience as he answered.

"Yes." The team's mouths dropped, and their eyes widened in shock. Grissom shook his head slowly, trying to understand that revelation.

"So is it not feasible that you may have 'found' the evidence you needed to get 'justice' for your ex-girlfriend, who is now dating another co-worker of hers?"

"No! She was not my ex-girlfriend and we would never compromise evidence. The fingerprints found on the steering nut and the wrench belong to Lydia Hart, they got there when she tampered with the car." Nick's earlier composure had disappeared completely. Collins grinned smugly at the jury and returned to his seat.

"No more questions your honour."


	41. Explanations

Hope ya'll liked my curveball, bet ya didn't see that one coming :) Hope you like this chapter but i warn you i am very sleep deprived so it may not be my best work. Anyways...

* * *

As court was adjourned for the day, the team – minus Sara who had opted to stay at home and look after Lindsey since she wasn't required in court today – re-gathered outside the courthouse. Nick skulked towards them with his head ducked, like a chastised schoolboy. Grissom was the first to speak.

"Well, I think that could have gone better but it could have gone worse too. And we still have the evidence on our side, no matter what that crook Tim Collins says." He reasoned, trying his best to sound optimistic.

"He made me look like an idiot." Nick brooded, keeping his head low. Despite the fact that he couldn't see her he could feel a certain someone's eyes burning into him and realised for the first time that it wasn't just him and Sara who this revelation could affect.

"Nick, you know better than to lose your temper on the stand." Grissom scolded. The Texan's head flew up at that and there was indignance in his voice.

"He provoked me! And he insulted Sara!"

"Nick…" Grissom tried to calm him but Catherine interrupted.

"You slept with her." There was no anger in her voice, just neutral curiosity, which scared him even more. Nick squirmed on the spot, realising that he was going to have to explain himself to the barrage of questioning eyes now staring at him.

"Look guys it was a long time ago, we'd had a tough case and we needed a drink. It meant nothing, we were just…I don't know, venting I guess." He explained. Catherine nodded in understanding but still did not seem completely happy with it. Yet before she, or anyone, could speak a disgruntled voice emanated from within the group.

"Man this is so unfair, how come Nick and Catherine both get to sleep with Sara and I can't even get her to give me a kiss?! I know Sara way better than the rest of you!" Greg grumbled miserably, eliciting a chuckle from Sofia, Warrick and Brass.

"Yeah, apparently so." Catherine muttered as she walked away from the group.

* * *

Catherine arrived home to an unusually quiet house. She dropped her keys on the table by the door and headed through the house to the kitchen, putting the coffee pot on to warm up, before doubling back through the lounge, where she finally found her sleeping beauties. Sara was curled up on the couch, with Lindsey coiled into her arms like a cat. Her earlier annoyance faded momentarily as she could not help but smile at them together. They looked so cute.

"Hey," a sleepy voice caught her attention. Sara's eyes were still closed but there was a small smile gracing her lips as she had sensed Catherine's presence near her.

"Hey." Cath replied, not moving from her spot in the middle of the room. Sara obviously detected something in her voice as she slowly sat up, careful not to disturb Lindsey, and levelled Catherine with a concerned gaze.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Catherine shook her head, still not moving. "Cat c'mon, tell me." Sara pressed, starting to get worried.

"You slept with Nick." Catherine finally stated. Sara just looked at her blankly.

"That was years ago, that came up in court?" the brunette asked incredulous.

"Yeah, it came up. What's bothering me is that it never came up sooner." The older woman finally moved, wandering over and sitting on the coffee table in front on the couch to reach out and tenderly stroke Lindsey's blonde hair as she slept. She sighed and looked Sara in the eye. "Why did you never tell me? I thought we trusted each other Sara." The hurt in her voice was unmistakable. Sara was silent for a moment before answering.

"I do trust you Cath. But Nick trusted me. We had a deal that we wouldn't tell anyone."

"I'm not anyone Sara, I'm your girlfriend, we're supposed to be able to tell each other everything. You could trust me to keep a secret." Though she was keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake Lindsey she was clearly getting frustrated.

"I know that, but I will not break a promise to a friend. Besides, I never thought it would come up again. How was I supposed to know that Nick would blab to the entire courtroom?" Catherine tried and failed to stifle a smile at Sara's baffled tone. "I'm sorry if you felt that I hid it, but I wasn't intentionally withholding it I promise, I didn't think you'd be upset. I'm not good at this relationship stuff; you know that. I'm sorry." She said as sincerely as possible. Catherine paused a moment before answering.

"Anything else you forgot to tell me? You haven't slept with Grissom too have you?" She asked, half-jokingly. Sara pulled a face and shook her head vehemently. Cath finally smiled. "Ok then. Dinner?" Sara agreed and stood up to help her cook. As they made their was to the kitchen she turned to the blonde.

"So, we're ok, I mean you're ok with it?" she asked, slightly perplexed as to Cath's change of mood.

"Yeah, we're ok. I guess it was just a shock to find out like that, I thought I knew all your secrets." She paused for a moment in the kitchen doorway. "And besides, you can make it up to me later by telling me all the dirty details about you and Cowboy Stokes."


	42. Lawyers, I suppose, were children once

**Nearly finished! Reviews will make me get there sooner :) x**

* * *

The next day's events started off badly and went from bad to worse.

With the prosecution's argument concluded it was time for the defence to call their witnesses, commencing with Lydia's supposed alibi. The CSIs, unaware of this development, were even more shocked when the person walking up to the front of the courtroom to be sworn in was an 11 year old girl.

"Persephone Hart." She confirmed her name, shuffling uneasily in her seat. Her scared eyes kept flicking towards her sister, and for the first time during the trial there was raw emotion vivid in Lydia's eyes: she looked concerned and ... almost guilty.

"Persephone, could you tell the court where you were on the day of Miss Sidle's car accident." Tim Collins said in a sympathetic voice.

"With my sister. Lydia." She stammered nervously, her eyes darting around the room.

"Why weren't you at school?"

"I was skipping. I do it sometimes to spend time with Lydia." The girl answered, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as she realised that her parents were in the room too.

"And where did you and your sister go?"

"She took me to the park for a walk, and she bought me an ice cream."

"In December?"

"Yeah. And then we just hung out at her apartment."

"And what time did you go home?" Collin's was doing everything to seem the kind, considerate lawyer trying to put the child at ease, which they all knew would backfire on the defence attorney when it came to cross-examination.

"4." She answered. Collins turned to the jury.

"Which was after the accident had occurred. After the car had supposedly been tampered with." He turned back to Persephone. "Did you ever meet Miss Sidle when she was dating your sister?"

"Yes. She helped me with my maths homework a couple of times." This was news to the CSIs but did not really surprise them when they thought about it. Sara was naturally philanthropic.

"So, you liked her."

"Yeah." There was an innocent honesty behind that answer that made her more likeable to the CSIs, even if she was covering for Lydia.

"And what about your sister? Did she like Sara?" Persephone looked at Collins like he'd gone mad.

"Of course. She loved her." That was clearly all Collins felt the jury needed to hear as he sat down with a smug grin.

"Thank you Persephone. You've been a big help."

The defence attorney stood up and smiled at Persephone.

"Now, you said that you like Sara, what do you like about her?" The team was curious to hear the answer to this.

"She was friendly, and helpful. And funny. And she's really pretty." The guys had to smile at that. "She's much nicer than all of Lydia's other girlfriends." That off-the-cut remark seemed to catch the attention of a few people in the room, including Tim Collins who visibly grimaced.

"And how many other girlfriends have there been?" The lawyer asked with a sweet smile.

"Lots." The girl seemed to realise what she had said too late to take it back.

"Really. And when did that last relationship end before she started seeing Sara?"

"May. Because it was before my birthday." Having conducted one of the interrogations of Lydia, Sofia was the first to pick up on that. Sara and Lydia had been together since April, so...

"Interesting."The lawyer said. "Miss Hart," he said slowly. "I know that you want to protect your sister, but if you care about Sara I'm sure that you want to find out what happened to her and you can only do that by telling the truth. Is there anything you want to add or change about your story?" Her gaze latched onto Lydia's and, though it was obvious that she was lying, she shook her head and whispered "no."

"My sister's innocent." She said tearfully as she lead down from the stand and escorted outside the courtroom.

"Five minute recess then we will proceed with the next witness," the judge checked his notes, "Catherine Willows."

* * *

Before she left for court that morning Sara had hugged Catherine and promised that it did not matter what happened, Catherine was the best person in the world in her eyes.

The blonde had assumed that the words of support were merely to calm her nerves, but the way her testimony was going she was beginning that Sara's words had a deeper meaning because right now she looked like a bitch to the courtroom. They had so far covered the divorce, which had somehow made Cath come across as a gold-digger (as if Eddie had any money) who would not let her ex-husband see his only daughter nearly often enough, and now they had moved onto her lucrative career as a stripper.

"You took your clothes off for a living."

"For a very good living." Catherine responded coolly. He'd have to step up his game if he wanted to beat down this contender.

"I'll bet. And I imagine that entailed quite a social life...drink, sex. Drugs?" He asked seductively, raising an eyebrow at Catherine. She did not flinch, but inside her stomach was flipping. If anything was going to destroy her credibility as a reliable witness it was a previous drug-addiction. Damn Eddie – even from beyond the grave he was threatening her love life.

Letting the subject hang in the air unresolved, Collins moved onto another topic.

"So, your friend and colleague ends up in hospital with suicide marks..."

"Objection! That was never shown to be a suicide attempt." The defence lawyer stood up.

"Withdrawn. She is in hospital with serious injuries and she has just broken up with her girlfriend. She's vulnerable and scared and you, her _supervisor_, someone in a position of trust, comes along and takes her hand. She needed someone to rely on and you took advantage of your power over her as a friend and supervisor to get her into bed."

"No, I..." Catherine started but he cut her off.

"Did you not want Lydia hart out of Sara's life so that you could have her to yourself?"

"Yes I, no!" She corrected. "I wanted her out of Sara's life because she was hurting her. I was trying to protect her." She regained her composure.

"By getting rid of Lydia. By, for example framing her for attempted murder."

"No!"

"You attacked Sara, setting it up to look like Lydia tried to kill her, and when that didn't work you tampered with your car before Sara picked it up, or got Stephanie Scully to unscrew the steering nut, causing the accident."

"No!" She was so close to slapping this man it was unreal.

"Objection, my witness is not on trial." The judge rolled his eyes and set his gaze on Tim Collins.

"Sustained. Mr Collins please keep your theories to yourself or stick with one." The judge sighed. Clearly he thought about as much of Tim as Catherine did.

"Understood, no more questions your honour." IT didn't matter; he had successfully destroyed her character and her credibility. And, more crucially he had planted the seed of doubt in the jurors' minds through the art of confusion. They had so many different potential theories floating around that at this rate they may be forced to return a verdict of not guilty based on reasonable doubt.

Damn lawyers!


	43. Tricks up the sleeve

**Is getting tense! Nearly finished now, thanks for the continued support fram all. x**

* * *

It was the final day of proceedings and there was one witness left to call.

"Lydia Hart."

The blonde looked so much smaller on the stand, and her face was red and puffy as if from extensive crying. She sat perfectly still in her seat but her empty grey eyes darted around the packed courtroom. Police, criminalists, lab techs, journalists and friends and family of both Sara and Lydia filled the room, along with Ecklie, the undersheriff, and even the Sheriff himself and some curious members of the public. Catherine had eventually convinced Sara to come and the brunette was sat as close to her girlfriend as she could get, clutching her hand tightly. Every now and then Cath would lean over and whisper something to her, but as soon as Lydia took the stand everyone went silent.

"Miss Hart," Collins began sympathetically, "how are you feeling?"

"Ok." She answered meekly. Her usually pale skin seemed almost see-through and her voice was shaky.

"Now, you have been accused of tampering with a car in order to kill, or at least injure, your ex's new girlfriend. Could you tell the court how you felt about Miss Sidle, your ex girlfriend."

"I loved her. I still love her. I just want her to be happy."

"You were accused some time ago of attacking Miss Sidle and making it look like she had tried to commit suicide, is this true?"

"No." She answered immediately. "Sara was...unstable. She's tried to kill herself before, she hurts herself and I just wanted to help her." Catherine could feel Sara tense up and immediately placed one hand on her knee, stroking the back of her hand with her other thumb. Lydia continued, "She slit her wrists and I found her. I was trying to look after her when Ms Willows got involved and accused me of hurting her."

"Why would she do that?"

"To get me out of the way, so she could have her all to herself."

"So she could start seeing her, which she did." Collins said with a sly glance towards the women in the audience. Sara was shaking and Catherine's blood was boiling.

"Now, you say that Miss Sidle has attempted suicide before. She told you this?"

"Yes. She did as a teenager and again a few years later. Then before Christmas."

"Interesting." Tim said thoughtfully, but let the subject hang. Instead he moved onto the subject at hand. "So then, when you were arrested, and later released, your first port of call was to check on your girlfriend, who was unstable and suicidal in hospital, what did you find?"

"Ms Willows was undressing her and kissing her." Catherine sank lower in her seat as she could feel the boys' eyes on her. She could practically hear the images running through Greg's head.

"How did Sara seem?"

"Scared. She didn't want it."

"Ms Willows forced Miss Sidle?"

"Sara's vulnerable and she's easily led on. She wouldn't have felt like she had a choice." Lydia glanced at the jury before settling her eyes on Sara, whom she had picked out of the crowd as soon as she sat down. Sara however was watching the prosecution lawyer scribbling furiously in a notebook.

"And upon seeing this how did it make you feel?"

"Angry."

"Angry enough to trespass on a garage property tamper with a car and cause a serious accident, an accident that almost killed the girl you say you love?"

"No way. I would never hurt anyone like that."

"So, when you were overheard saying that Ms Willows would not get away with what she had done, what exactly did you mean?"

"I was planning on suing Ms Willows for slander." Mr Collins picked up a file and handed to the jury foreman.

"Ladies and gentleman of the jury I would like to draw your attention to these files found within Miss Hart's personal possessions, which clearly show research into slander cases and the names and numbers of several local lawyers. I believe this demonstrates her intentions were of legal, not violent, retribution." There was a moment of quiet mumbling amongst the crowd and the jury, before Tim posed his final question.

"Miss Hart, in response to the accusation of tampering with Ms Willows' car, how do you plead?" Instead of looking at the jury, Lydia fixed her eyes onto Sara's.

"Not guilty."

All eyes turned to the prosecution lawyer.

"Mr Hardy, cross examination?" the judge asked. Surprisingly, he declined. Everyone's eyes widened at his decision to pass up this opportunity. However, he had other plans.

"No further questions for the defendant your honour. However I would like to call a final witness to the stand." Apart from Mr Hardy and the judge, no one else seemed aware of this development, including Mr Collins who stuttered and flopped into his seat somewhat ungracefully.

"Miss Hart you are dismissed. Final witness."

"Prosecution calls Charlotte Lao." A youngish dark-haired Asian woman took the stand and was sworn in.

"Miss Lao could you please tell the court your connection to the defendant."

"We dated for six months until May last year." The team looked at Sara but she just shook her head – she had no idea what was going on either.

"And why did that relationship end?"

"Because I found out that she was seeing someone else."

"That someone being Miss Sidle. Was this the first time she had cheated on you?"

"No, there had been at least two other occasions." Charlotte answered. She seemed quite collected on the stand although she was studiously avoiding eye contact with Lydia, who was staring at her bug-eyed.

"What was your relationship like with Miss Hart?" Hardy asked. The whole courtroom was hanging off her every word.

"She was clingy and temperamental. And very unstable. I tried twice to leave her before but she always threatened to kill herself."

"So, Miss Hart threatened to take her own life. Has she ever threatened you?"

"Once, she got really upset when I was about to leave her she picked up a knife and started waving it around. She calmed down eventually but she was always wary of me leaving. She would constantly ring me and ask where I was."

"Ok Miss Lao, since you have known Miss Hart a long time I am going to give you a hypothetical situation: say she had suspected that you were going to leave her for someone else, perhaps she followed you on a work conference and eavesdropped..." he looked at Lydia pointedly, "how would you say that she would react?"

"She'd panic. Lydia needs someone to cling onto and once she latches on it's almost like she feels that person is hers and no one else is allowed them. In her head anything she does to keep them, however wrong, is right because she feels she is just protecting her interests, her property."

"Thank you Miss Lao, you've been very helpful." Mr Hardy went to sit down but paused. "Oh, out of curiosity, what is your profession?"

Charlotte smiled. "I'm a psychologist."


	44. Closing Speeches

At the start of the closing arguments the judge said a few words before the prosecution lawyer, Mr Hardy, stood up and faced the jury.

"You have been subjected to mind games, contradicting theories and lies. And this is the truth. Lydia Hart is a jealous, clingy, compulsive cheater with a chequered relationship history. Her ex-girlfriend has given us a clear insight into her psyche and indicated a possessive nature, which has presented itself several times:

She threatened to harm herself in order to guilt Miss Lao into staying with her.

She cheated on Miss Lao with Miss Sidle and then cheated on Miss Sidle.

She secretly followed her girlfriend on a work trip and eavesdropped on a private conversation in which she heard that she was going to be dumped.

She took advantage of Miss Sidle's past and personality in order to make her seem unstable and remain in her life.

When she was told to stay away from Miss Sidle the first thing she did was to visit her in the hospital. And when she witnessed her ex in the arms of another woman, a friend and colleague, she saw red. She tampered with the car in an attempt to kill her love rival and in effect almost killed her ex-girlfriend. She has lied, cheated and even forced her little sister to lie under oath to cover her own back. This conniving, manipulative person is guilty of a great many wrongs, and all it takes is one decision from you to ensure justice is served. That decision is guilty."

The jury was allowed a moment to let that to sink in before Tim Collins approached the jury.

"What you see before you here is not a liar, or a cheater, or a murderer. Here is a scared, wrongly accused girl, and she is asking for your help to clear her name. The 'evidence' Mr Hardy gesticulated to in his closing speech shows only one thing: that Miss Hart was trying to protect her girlfriend from the harming influence of her colleagues. She knew Miss Sidle was vulnerable and easily manipulated, so she tried to keep an eye on what her colleagues were doing. And when Miss Sidle attempted suicide she tried to be there for her, only to be arrested, have her name dragged through the mud and have her confused girlfriend turned against her.

We have a sworn statement from Miss Hart stating that she saw Ms Willows forcibly undress and inappropriately touch Miss Sidle in the hospital, mere hours after a suicide attempt.

And now, despite having an alibi, she is being accused of nearly killing the one person she was trying to protect, the person she is in love with.

What I have shown you are not theories or speculation. It is reasonable doubt.

Did Stephanie Scully, distracted by her young son, forget to tighten the steering nut? Maybe.

Did the CSIs, desperate to give their friend the desired outcome, tamper with evidence? Maybe.

Or maybe, Ms Willows, driven by jealousy and lust for her young attractive colleague, abused her position of trust as a supervisor and took advantage of the victim's fragile nature and framed Miss Hart for the crime.

These might seem outlandish and unlikely ideas and I cannot say honestly whether any are true. But one thing I can tell you, with every fibre of my being, Miss Hart is an innocent girl who just wanted to love and protect someone. You, people of the jury can give her what she deserves: recognition of her efforts, respect for her strength and, most importantly, justice."

Having said his piece Tim Collins turned to Mr Hardy and the spectators with a smug grin before sitting down next to Lydia and whispering something to her. Whatever it was made a smile creep onto her lips. The jury was dismissed to decide their verdict. In the meantime the spectators were allowed to wander.

The CSIs gathered in a quiet spot on the hallway and formed a protective circle around Sara. Catherine was stood behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, placing a soft kiss into her hair, inhaling the sweet scent. Nick rubbed her arm comfortingly and offered a supportive smile.

"Hey, it doesn't matter what they decide," The Texan said, "we know what happened and we will protect you. She won't get near you again." He promised.

"I just don't understand how she's come off as the victim in all of this. It was your car." Sara said, turning to Catherine. Cath just shrugged, never loosening her grip around the brunette's middle.

"Lawyers." She answered simply. Warrick chimed in:

"Yeah, I hate court and I hate lawyers they all need to dry up and die..."

"Verdict's in." A voice interrupted his rant and they all filed back into the courtroom for the answer they were depending on. Sara clung to Catherine's hand, unable to let go, as the jury foreman stood up and cleared his throat.

"We the jury have unanimously decided that on a charge of aggravated assault and attempted murder we find the defendent..."

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**:) Sorry, couldn't resist. Promise i won't keep y'all waiting too long...**


	45. verdicts

**See, i promised you wouldn't have to wait long. One chapter to go, hope you liked x**

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"_We the jury have unanimously decided that on a charge of aggravated assault and attempted murder we find the defendant..."_

"...guilty."

There was a unanimous gasp from the spectators, as always happened regardless of the verdict read, but from the CSIs there was silence. Sara had fallen into Catherine's arms and the blonde hugged her tightly while whispering gentle words to her girlfriend.

"It's over now baby. It's all over. She won't hurt you again." Sara snuggled into Catherine's neck while the guys all shook hands and gave each other manly one-armed half-hugs and patted each other on the back.

The room fell into silence as the judge's voice, which had once sounded bored and pissed off, suddenly became serious and sincere.

"Lydia Hart, you have completely disregarded the life of your victims in order to get your own way. You cheat, lie and manipulate people in the same way that your lawyer does the facts. Not only have you nearly destroyed the lives of two innocent women but your lack of honesty resulted in their personal lives being dragged through the courts, for which I apologise to them.

Since you are clearly a danger to yourself and others I have no choice but to hand down a custodial sentence. I am going to hand down the maximum sentence for attempted murder: 10 years imprisonment, and you must spend at least 6 behind bars before you can be eligible for parole, and personally Miss Hart, I think that's the best place for you."

People began to file out of the room engrossed in hyper chatter, but the CSIs remained, mainly because Sara was closest to the isle and she wasn't moving. Instead she had locked eyes with Lydia, who was practically being dragged backwards towards the door to the cells by the guards. She was mouthing something to Sara but the brunette couldn't figure out what it was. Catherine, desperate to get the blonde out of their lives as soon as possible, wrapped an arm around Sara's waist and turned her towards the door, effectively severing eye-contact.

Outside the courtroom the boys all exchanged hugs with Sara and Catherine before everyone departed to their vehicles, leaving the women alone in the parking lot. Catherine took Sara's hands and looked into her deep eyes. "Let's go home."

* * *

As soon as they got through the door Lindsey catapulted herself into Sara's arms just before Nancy could catch her. Sara held the child close, breathing in the comfort she got from the feeling.

"Is the bad lady gone away now?" She asked searching Sara's eyes with her own ocean blue ones. Sara smiled, and for the first time in weeks it reached her eyes.

"Yeah she's gone." Lindsey wrapped her small arms around Sara's neck and snuggled against her. Nancy exchanged a tight hug with her sister and pecked a kiss on Sara's cheek.

"Well then, it's over. Time for a fresh start." Nancy said, wrapping an arm around each of them and guiding them towards the kitchen. "And time for coffee."


	46. It's over my darling

**Final chapter! Thank you for all your kind reviews, you give me inspiration! I hope this doesn't dissapoint xx Elle x**

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After the trial had finished Catherine had asked Sara to go home with her. And she hadn't left since. Even though she was fully healed physically there were still some remnants of the emotional trauma suffered by the brunette. She was jumpy, more so than she used to be, and if Catherine was gone for a long time she got nervy. However, she had adjusted to life with the Willows women well. She loved spending time with Lindsey, and took every opportunity to teach her something new or help her with a project of her own. Catherine, too, was enjoying watching them together, seeing how her daughter was bringing Sara out of her shell and helping her heal, and how Sara was helping Lindsey to deal with her father's death and grow from the experience.

Sara had permanently moved in with them, and was in the process of selling her apartment, and they had even purchased a dog together: a rescue mongrel called Gypsy. Sara had insisted on a rescue dog and, though unsure at first, Catherine soon fell in love with the mutt. She could see similarities between her and her girlfriend: both abused, both abandoned by those who were supposed to love them, both skittish during storms. And both were utterly gorgeous. The newest addition was a friend for Lindsey, and she had cemented their relationship and stolen their hearts.

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Sara and Lindsey were out walking Gypsy one day, a few months after the trial, when Catherine received a phone call that she was not entirely sure how to handle. She debated over whether or not to tell Sara, and was still debating when her girls arrived home, laughing and joking around. Sara took off the dog lead and placed a soft kiss on Catherine's lips, before noticing that something was up with her girlfriend.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" She asked, placing her hands on Catherine's arms.

"Yeah, I'm fine honey. But, I need to talk to you." She started, uncertainly. "Lindsey baby why don't you go play with Gypsy outside for a while." She said, waiting until the little blonde disappeared before leading Sara to the couch by the hand.

"Cath hon, you're worrying me." Sara said anxiously. Catherine sat on her coffee table and placed her hands on Sara's knees, making sure she had her full attention before continuing.

"Sweetheart, Brass just phoned. He'd just got off the phone with a police officer at the prison. Lydia's committed suicide." Cath explained gently. She studied Sara's face, watched a multitude of expressions cross her eyes. She had learnt to read those looks that used to make Sara so mysterious. There was clear sadness in those hazel eyes, and a glimmer of relief. She didn't speak, just nodded her head slowly to show that she understood. Catherine brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face, tucking it tenderly behind her ear. "It's over my darling."

And finally understanding filled Sara's eyes as she flashed back to the courtroom, where she could hear, clear as day, what Lydia was trying to tell her as she was led out of the room.

"Yeah," she whispered. "It's over."


End file.
